According to police spokesperson Tinyiko Mathebula, Caswell Mthombeni was released on Tuesday 27 June after his first court appearance. Mthombeni is facing charges of fraud and money laundering. It is alleged that in October 2015, the accused was appointed by the provincial Department of Community Safety and Transport to teach unemployed matriculants how to drive and help develop driving schools.

Caswell Mthombeni was released on Tuesday 27 June after his first court appearance. PHOTO: Supplied

The accused received more than R21 million for the programme. Mathebula further explained that over 40 driving schools allegedly signed contracts with the accused’s company. “It is further alleged that these driving schools used their funds to participate in the programme, in anticipation that the suspect will compensate them. The suspect allegedly failed to honour his contractual agreement with the driving schools and spent the money on himself. As a result, the department incurred losses to the tune of over R21 million,” said Mathebula.

Mthombeni was arrested by the Hawks’ serious corruption investigation unit in Pretoria. His case has been postponed to 27 July 2023, pending further investigation.

“The provincial head for the directorate for priority crime investigation, Major General Patrick Mbotho, and the director for public prosecutions, Dr Rachel Makhari, commended the collaboration between the investigation team and prosecution, leading to the arrest of the suspect,” concluded Mathebula.

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