The case against the trio accused in the VBS Mutual Bank corruption matter has been postponed for legal representation.
Greater Giyani former municipal manager Risimati Maluleke, acting chief financial officer Nditshedzeni Mashau and businessman Zwivhuya Tshishonga appeared at the Polokwane Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Monday.
Corruption and money laundering charges
They are facing charges of contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act(MFMA), corruption and money laundering.
They were arrested in March. Maluleke and Tshitshonga were granted bail of R25 000, while their alleged accomplice, Mashao, was released on R20 000 bail.
The trio stands accused of allegedly approving a fraudulent investment of over R148 million into VBS in 2017.
“It is alleged that the first investment of R100 million matured and yielded an interest amounting to over R4 million. Later, over R48 million was also invested. The investment and the interest were then not paid back to the municipality.
Municipal suffers R153 million loss
“The Greater Giyani Local Municipality suffered a loss of over R153 million as a result of the conduct of Maluleke and Mashau,” a spokesperson for the National Prosecution Authority in Limpopo, Mashudu Malabi-Dzhangi, explained.
Investigations into the matter, according to Malabi-Dhangi, found that the Greater Giyani Local Municipality illegally invested over R153 million into VBS for 18 months.
She said the acting CFO had recommended this investment instead of using authorised banks, explaining that at the time VBS was not authorised.
“The accused did not take reasonable steps to ensure that the resources of the municipality were used effectively, efficiently, and economically and acted in a grossly negligent way in contravention of MFMA.”
“It is alleged that Tshishonga received substantial amounts of money into his business account at Real Consulting; in turn, Tshishonga will transfer a portion of the money to Maluleke, thus disguising the nexus between VBS and Maluleke. In total, Maluleke received R62 000 from Tshishonga.”
The trio will return to the court on July 2, 2024.
