Central SA
Pretrial against former director set for June 2023─── 15:08 Thu, 20 Apr 2023
The Mogwase Magistrate's Court in North West has set a pretrial date for a fraud case involving former Moses Kotane Local Municipality.
Gabone Ridam Madikela (39) is faced with six charges of fraud amounting to over R522 000, which she received as remuneration for six months while she was allegedly simultaneously occupying another government post without her employer’s knowledge.
The NPA's provincial spokesperson, Henry Mamothame, says Madikela is set to appear at the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Mogwase on 13 June 2023, for a pretrial.
Madikela was arrested by the Hawks on 27 March 2023, following a thorough investigation into her alleged offence. This came after her fraudulent orchestration of theft, involving her salary while she was employed by the Moses Kotane Local Municipality as a Director of Local Economic Development from April to September 2022. It’s alleged that her contract was to commence on 1 July 2019, to end on 30 June 2024, with an all-inclusive annual salary of R1 274 619.
OFM News reported in March 2022, the accused allegedly applied for study leave from 30 March 2022 to 24 May 2022, with a confirmation letter from an institution of higher learning. On 29 March 2022, she further applied for 39 days of annual leave from 8 May 2022 to 27 June 2022, with the municipality granting her leave on both applications. Towards the end of the annual leave, Madikela submitted sick notes from a private medical facility in Akasia, purportedly issued by her doctor, indicating that she was sickly and hospitalised.
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“Investigations by the Hawks revealed that during the period of her leave and purported illness, she was employed by the Department of Water and Sanitation as a Director, while still earning a salary from the Moses Kotane Local Municipality. Investigations reveal that the reasons provided for her leave were false, including supporting documents from the institution of higher learning, as well as the medical certificates she provided as proof,” he says.
Mamothame said that the state is ready to proceed with the trial as investigations have been completed.
