Three in court for municipality’s missing millions
The identity of the municipal official who assisted in this criminal activity is still being investigated.
Three men appeared in the Durban Commercial Crime Court on Thursday in connection with the R10.5-million that went missing from municipal coffers in 2009.
Municipal manager, Kebone Masange, travelled to Durban to testify in court but said that the trial was postponed to January 13 in order to give the defence an opportunity to peruse through the evidence gathered by the Hawks. The identity of the municipal official/s who assisted the men in defrauding the municipality, however, is yet unknown.
“The suspects have still not divulged the name of the person within the municipality who helped them conduct this criminal activity. This is a matter that is still being investigated,” said Mr Masange. “It is troublesome that I could be passing this person in the corridor and not even know it.”
The missing millions has been an issue of contention between the municipality and ratepayers, as well as unions for nearly four years, with pertinent questions about where the money has gone and whether it will ever be recovered, still unanswered. The money was stolen when fake order slips were made out to fictitious companies to the tune of hundreds of thousands of rands at a time, over a period of about four months.
