Obakeng Eden Mongale, 52, is accused of contravening Section 38 of the Public Finance Management Act of 1999.
According to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Henry Mamothame the accused handed himself over to the police early on Thursday.
“It is alleged that in 2008, Mongale awarded IIima Projects and Tsoga Developers a tender to the tune of over R470-million to construct Brits hospital. Investigations by Serious Commercial Crime Investigation revealed that the two companies were awarded the tender without meeting requirements,” Mamothame said.
“In 2010, Ilima Projects was allegedly placed under provisional liquidation, which resulted in the termination of the contract. A new company was appointed to complete the construction of the hospital. The department had spent over R57-million when the contract was terminated.
“The new contractor had to carry out two major remedial work amounting to more than R4-million, which resulted in the extension of time and cost, which constituted wasteful expenditure.”
Mongale, a career civil servant, was released on R50 000 bail and his case postponed to January 31 2024 for further investigation.
The court also ordered Mongale to hand over his passport to the investigating officer and not to communicate with state witnesses. The court further ordered the accused not to leave the province without informing the investigating officer.
In June last year, the North-West University announced Mongale as the new deputy chairperson of the university council.
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