Frank Maponya

Frank Maponya

A Limpopo man has accused a local chief of selling a site earmarked for the erection of a business complex to a competitor.

This is in spite of documents that show him to be the rightful owner.

Tshione Letsoalo has accused Kgoshigadi Angelina Ramadimetja Chuene, of GaChuene village outside Lebowakgomo, of negotiating in bad faith. He said he had approached Chuene with a view to buying land at Thokgoaneng village where he wanted to build a petrol station in 2003. Letsoalo said he paid a certain sum of money to Chuene for the purchase of the site. He says he was in the company of a business associate.

They made a presentation to Chuene who was allegedly impressed by their business plan. Letsoalo said the death of his associate's husband resulted in delays in kick-starting the project. When they went to Chuene earlier this year, she allegedly refused to speak to them.

"We were taken aback at Chuene's sudden change of attitude and immediately began suspecting foul play. The project we intended doing was aimed at empowering the poor people of Thokgoaneng in terms of job creation. What Chuene is doing is actually depriving her own people of job opportunities," Letsoalo said.

Asked for comment yesterday, Chuene said she was not prepared to discuss the issue with the media. She said if the media needed to know about developmental issues in her area she would have to convene a meeting, which the council and the media could attend.