A FORMER Tzaneen municipal revenue division intern, who had been charged with stealing close to R1-million from the Limpopo local government, has been appointed chief financial officer by the eMakhazeni Local Municipality in Belfast, Mpumalanga.
Jeffrey Maake allegedly stole R855,000 between 2006 and 2009 when he was a municipality accountant.
He has been charged with theft by the Hawks and the case is pending.
But despite this, eMakhazeni municipality has appointed him to control financial affairs of the municipality, with a total budget of R167-million.
The Hawks arrested Maake in October last year.
He was charged with theft and is out on R3,000 bail and is expected to appear in the Tzaneen Magistrate's Court shortly.
Asked whether he thought he deserved the post, Maake yesterday refused to comment, saying the criminal matter against him was still pending.
He wanted to know who had leaked the news about his new appointment.
"I am not going to comment on the matter now because the case against me is still pending," Maake said.
"I will reveal everything once the case is over. It's not proper for me to do that now because it will jeopardise my case."
eMakhazeni municipal spokesperson, Oscar Nkosi, said while they were aware of Maake's alleged theft at his previous employ, they could not sideline him because he had not been found guilty of any wrongdoing by a court of law.
He said before appointing him, the municipality did a security check on Maake and he was cleared.
"He has not been blacklisted by the Treasury and all these allegations against him did not come up when we checked on him," said Nkosi.
Nkosi said the municipality believed in the principle of one being innocent until proven guilty, and would decide on what action to take if Maake was found guilty of the crimes he had been reportedly charged with.
R167m job for fraud accused
A FORMER Tzaneen municipal revenue division intern, who had been charged with stealing close to R1-million from the Limpopo local government, has been appointed chief financial officer by the eMakhazeni Local Municipality in Belfast, Mpumalanga.
Jeffrey Maake allegedly stole R855,000 between 2006 and 2009 when he was a municipality accountant.
He has been charged with theft by the Hawks and the case is pending.
But despite this, eMakhazeni municipality has appointed him to control financial affairs of the municipality, with a total budget of R167-million.
The Hawks arrested Maake in October last year.
He was charged with theft and is out on R3,000 bail and is expected to appear in the Tzaneen Magistrate's Court shortly.
Asked whether he thought he deserved the post, Maake yesterday refused to comment, saying the criminal matter against him was still pending.
He wanted to know who had leaked the news about his new appointment.
"I am not going to comment on the matter now because the case against me is still pending," Maake said.
"I will reveal everything once the case is over. It's not proper for me to do that now because it will jeopardise my case."
eMakhazeni municipal spokesperson, Oscar Nkosi, said while they were aware of Maake's alleged theft at his previous employ, they could not sideline him because he had not been found guilty of any wrongdoing by a court of law.
He said before appointing him, the municipality did a security check on Maake and he was cleared.
"He has not been blacklisted by the Treasury and all these allegations against him did not come up when we checked on him," said Nkosi.
Nkosi said the municipality believed in the principle of one being innocent until proven guilty, and would decide on what action to take if Maake was found guilty of the crimes he had been reportedly charged with.
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