Sekhukhune District Municipality’s (SDM) executive mayor, Julia Mathebe (51), and former municipal manager (MM) of Elias Motsoaledi Local Municipality (EMLM), Minah Maredi, were granted R30 000 bail each when they appeared in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday.

Mathebe and Maredi face charges of corruption, money laundering and contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act and the Banks Act.

They were arrested by the Hawks on Wednesday morning in Groblersdal because of an ongoing investigation into the VBS Mutual Bank investments conducted by some municipalities.

In 2019, while Mathebe was mayor of EMLM and Maredi the MM, the municipality invested R190m with VBS.

“Maredi is said to have been instrumental in investing R190m municipal funds into VBS, wherein Mathebe received over R300 000 in gratification, which included cash, accommodation and flight tickets. These were channelled through a company belonging to her children,” says Gauteng Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale.

The SDM’s spokesperson, Khomotso Ndlovu, says, “The SDM notes the developments surrounding the executive mayor Mathebe in respect of securing her appearance in court. As a responsible organ of the state, we wish not to comment further as the matter is sub judice.”

Leader of the Bolsheviks Party of South Africa, a political party based in Limpopo, Seun Mogotji, says they are delighted and welcomes Maredi and Mathebe’s arrests.

“We believe Maredi was paid for her silence when she received a golden handshake of over R2m as part of her settlement. We hope she will spill the beans and tell the whole truth to the Hawks.

“We feel vindicated that despite their vehement denials of any wrongdoings, the law enforcement agencies never lost focus. This arrest may be the turning point in rooting out corruption in our municipalities. We applaud this arrest and hope that justice will finally be served.”

The matter was postponed to March 2 for further investigations.