Benson Ntlemo

Benson Ntlemo

Thulamela municipality in Limpopo has been rocked by the suspension of an official over allegations that she stole other people's IDs, registered stands in their names and then later sold the sites for personal gain.

The allegations against Olga Makhubele are contained in a letter titled: RE: Corrupt activities by your employee: Olga Makhubele stationed at Malamulele satellite office.

The letter, which Sowetan has in its possession, has a municipality stamp, showing it was received by the manager of Thulamela, Makonde Mathivha, on November 13 last year.

Makhubele was suspended a week ago.

The letter was purportedly written by a whistle-blower who claimed to be a "no-name resident of Malamulele township".

According to the letter, Makhubele used a pastor to go around the township identifying sites which had not been allocated to anybody.

Makhubele then allegedly stole IDs and registered the sites in their names.

Four sites were listed in the letter sent to Mathivha, who confirmed the suspension. He also confirmed that he had received a letter from a whistle blower.

But, Mathivha refused to discuss the case, saying Makhubele first had to appear before a disciplinary hearing and that the council did not want to discuss the matter as it would be tantamount to trial thorough the media.

"Bear with us, we are not shying away from the media. But this is a sensitive case where witnesses are being intimidated."

Sowetan tried to get hold of Makhubele to no avail.

The selling of sites in Malamulele has been a contentious issue with organisations such as the local South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) as well as the Malamulele Business Forum claiming that they are being kept in the dark.