The Hawks have arrested three of the most wanted members of a property syndicate that seized control of several properties belonging to the Eastern Cape government in Mthatha.
The Hawks described the trio as the ringleaders of the syndicate, which calls itself Public Assets Community Based Tenants and Owners Association (PACTOA). The ringleaders were arrested on Monday.
When the Hawks stormed the homes of the suspects during an operation early on Friday morning last week, they could not find them. The operation was backed by the police’s national intervention unit and the public order policing unit, and was a result of months of investigation.
Speaking after the failed arrest on Friday, Yoliswa Mgolodela, the spokesperson for the police in the Eastern Cape, said some of the fugitives were in contact with the Hawks’ investigators and had volunteered to hand themselves over but later backtracked on the deal.
She said the Hawks would add charges of defeating the ends of justice against those who evaded the arrest after volunteering to hand themselves over to the Hawks.
PACTOA has seized and taken control of several buildings including rental properties, offices and hotels that used to belong to the homeland government of Transkei. The properties were later placed under the Eastern Cape Development Cooperation, the provincial government entity.
PACTOA members are being accused of collecting money for rent and conducting unlawful evictions against the people who fail to pay.
Mgolodela said the syndicate has robbed the provincial government of an estimated R40-million revenue in accommodation rentals in the past eight years. The suspects are expected to appear at the Mthatha magistrate’s court on Tuesday.
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