Two Limpopo businessmen  are expected to appear in the Polokwane magistrate's court on Friday to face charges of corruption. The pair was arrested on Wednesday during a  sting operation  by the Hawks  and the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

Hawks spokesperson Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi said the two suspects, aged 44 and 34, were arrested by the Hawks  members on Wednesday after they bribed an SIU investigator to exclude part of the report that recommended that their company be charged criminally for corruption and further asked the SIU member to reduce the amount to be paid back.

"The finding was that the service provider should pay back R3m and face criminal charges for a tender that was not serviced although they submitted documents to the Mopani municipality for payments.

"On Wednesday in one of Polokwane’s hotels, the suspects met the investigator and handed over a R300,000 gratification which led to their immediate arrest.  Efforts are already underway [for them] to forfeit the R300,000 bribe money to the state and also to ascertain if the suspects are liable to pay back the R3m bribe," Mulaudzi said.

The national head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Lieut-Gen Godfrey Lebeya, has since congratulated both teams for collaborating in the arrest of the two suspects.

Meanwhile, the head of the SIU, Advocate Any Mothibi, has also welcomed the arrest of the suspects and commended the SIU investigator who demonstrated that SIU investigators put integrity at the centre of their work.

Mothibi also commended the excellent collaboration between the SIU and the Hawks that led to the arrests. “We are proud of our official who stayed true to what he stands for and put integrity before greed,” he said..