VBS corruption case goes to trial in October

The VBS Mutual Bank corruption trial is set to start in October.

A total of 27 suspects, facing more than 188 charges of corruption, are scheduled to appear in court for their trial starting from October 3 to December 3.

This was announced on Tuesday by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations (Hawks) national head Lt-Gen Godfrey Lebeya during a media briefing where he outlined some of the milestones the entity has achieved since he took office in June 2018.

Lebeya said the arrests and the one conviction they have secured in the matter comes as a result of the good work from the Hawks corrupting busting unit.

“The case of VBS has received massive coverage since inception. Twenty-seven suspects have been arrested so far. A conviction has also been secured.  This follows an intensive, prosecution aimed investigation by the Hawks' Serious Corruption Investigation into inappropriate administering of state funds into the Venda Mutual Bank by the municipalities,’’ said Lebeya.

The accused persons include former mayor of Thulamela local municipality Avhashoni Tshifhango and municipal manager Hlengani Maluleke.

Tshifhango is facing a charge of corruption and Maluleke is facing a charge of contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).

The two were arrested in February on allegations of corruption and maladministration.

Lebeya said more suspects are expected to be arrested during the course of the investigation as about 20 municipalities in Limpopo, North West and Gauteng lost nearly R1.6bn after illegally investing with the bank.  

He said more than 2,391 statements have been gathered by the investigators.

Meanwhile, the fraud and corruption case of former state security minister Bongani Bongo is set for pre-trial proceedings at the Mpumalanga Specialised Commercial Crime Court from November 18 to 25.  

Bongo and 11 other suspects are facing 69 counts of various offences related to fraud and corruption.

They were arrested in October 2020 for alleged fraud and corruption in connection with the alleged dubious land deals amounting to almost R124m.

“This follows a complaint received in February 2012 about the Msukaligwa municipality that allegedly bought a farm in Ermelo worth R11m yet sold for R36.4m in 2011. The investigation led to the discovery of two other deals involving two farms, a 70-hectare Malelane farm worth R44m that was allegedly sold to the municipality at R50m in 2011 and a 74.2 hectare in Emalahleni worth R16m sold for R37.5m,’’ said Lebeya.  

Lebeya also said between the 2019/2019 to the 2021/2022 financial years, the Hawks arrested 12,157 suspects who were brought before court, securing 4,447 convictions.

He said the Hawks is currently handling 22,477 cases with more than 500 000 charges, 25,519 suspects, of which 12,360 have been secured at court while 11,159 are yet to be approached by the police entity that investigates organised crime.

He said these cases amount to R1.5-trillion. 

“Of the cases under investigation, 1,998 have reached decision stage where the National Prosecuting Authority is applying its mind,’’ he said.

kokam@sowetan.co.za