According to Hawks provincial spokesperson, Nomthandazo Mnisi, the latest case relates to a 48-year-old former municipal manager (MM) at the Phokwane Local Municipality. She is accused of fraud and contravention of the Municipal Financial Management Act (MFMA). This follows after the municipality suffered a loss of R2 million.

The 48-year-old was slapped with a summons to appear at the Hartswater’s Regional Court to face these charges on Thursday. Mnisi says during 2018, the suspect authorised a car and travel allowance to 13 employees without following prescribed procedures and each employee allegedly received R10 000 as car and travel allowances, which was backdated to July 2017. OFM News previously reported two former Health accounting officers, accused of fraud and contravening the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), are set to go on pre-trial next year.

“It is further alleged that during August 2018, the suspect submitted a memo to a payroll accountant to implement the total remuneration package of R1 169 406 plus 4% rural allowance retrospective from July 2017. Thorough investigations by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team revealed that neither the council nor the MEC of the Department of Cooperative Governance, Human Settlements and Traditional Affairs (COGSTA) in the Northern Cape authorised any of these transactions,” she adds.

The summons to appear in court against the suspect was served to her in Vryburg on Friday 15 October 2021.

OFM News