State ready to proceed with theft and fraud trial of J.B. Marks-trio

The pre-trial for the case against the former Executive Mayor of J.B. Marks Local Municipality, Kgotso Khumalo, and two other municipal officials, Cyril Hendry and Mohau Shuping, is set for Friday, 20 August in the Potchefstroom regional court.

The three accused appeared in the same court last Wednesday (11 August) facing eight charges of theft and fraud.

Henry Mamothame, the regional spokesperson of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), said the Regional Court President has appointed the magistrate who will preside over the case. “The state is ready to proceed with the trial and hopes it would be concluded within a reasonable period.”

The criminal charges of the accused emanate from the mismanagement of a municipal trust fund. It is alleged that the North-West University and the Programme for Community Development paid about R5 million into a municipal trust account that was held by one of the municipality’s lawyers.  The funds were never declared to the Auditor-General.

The attorney received instructions to make various payments, which includes a R208 000 mayoral committee contribution towards the funeral of the late MEC for Agriculture, Duma Ndleleni, who passed away on 23 November 2018.

It was also discovered that R200 000 was paid directly into the account of one of the accused. From this amount, R64 218 was paid to an institution where Khumalo’s relative was a student. It is also alleged that false invoices were generated to make more fictitious payments. Khumalo also instructed the attorney to make payments to an NGO which did not exist.

A staggering R161,329.82 from the trust fund was also spent on sending a delegation to Durban. Mohau Shuping was part of this delegation. Part of this costly four-day trip was spent at the Durban July.

In May this year, Khumalo stepped aside pertaining to the criminal case against him. Both Cyril Hendry, the director for Municipal Services and Local Economic Development, and Mohau Shuping, the caretaker of the recreation and sports facilities, were suspended. Cyril Hendry’s contract with the municipality ended in December 2020, but Shuping is still employed by the municipality.

According to Mamothame the three will remain out of prison on a warning and are prohibited from contacting state witnesses.