TWO Nala municipality employees in Free State who are accused of stealing petrol using the municipality's account appeared briefly in the Wesselsbron Magistrate's Court yesterday.

William Masisi and Dikotsi Tsholo are allegedly among the employees who have defrauded the municipality.

The petrol scam has reportedly defrauded the municipality of R160000.

The two men, employed as general workers at the municipality, are alleged to have used the municipality account to fill up with petrol worth R466.

On November 28 last year Masisi, 36, and Tsholo, 39, were spotted by another municipal employee at a filling station in Wesselsbron putting petrol into Tsholo's vehicle.

The employee allegedly noticed that the men were using the municipality's account number to settle the bill.

The whistle-blower alerted the filling station employees, and the police were called.

Yesterday, Magistrate Hannes Smith told Masisi and Tsholo that they were facing serious charges and needed a lawyer to represent them.

Masisi said he would defend himself during the trial while Tsholo said his lawyer had promised to send someone to represent him.

"I don't know where he is. I can provide the court with his contact numbers and it can ask him why he is not here today," Tsholo said.

Smith responded that it was not the court's duty to call lawyers.

According to auditing firm KPMG's forensic report, between 2007 and 2009 the municipality lost R160000 through "petrol scams".

It was revealed that 207 vehicles belonging to employees were illegally filled up at the municipality's cost.

Measures and controls put in place to monitor the fuelling and accounting of vehicles were weak, according to the report.

The municipality had a verbal agreement with three filling stations in Bothaville and one in Wesselsbron where municipal vehicles were fuelled.

Masisi and Tsholo are expected to appear again in court on February 9.