- An Eastern Cape municipal project manager was sentenced to five years in prison for pocketing money cleared for a slab of concrete to help people get to a remote village.
- The R169 000 invoice was paid into the account of his sister-in-law who got the contract, but he took her card and spent it.
- He has since been arrested for allegedly trying to arrange a hit on the municipal manager who was a witness in the matter.
An Eastern Cape municipal project manager was sentenced to five years in prison for fraud after awarding a tender for a concrete slab to his sister-in-law’s company and then taking her bank card and spending the money.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said the Qumbu Regional Court handed down the sentence to 41-year-old Mhlontlo local municipality project manager, Zwelilungile Siqhola.
NPA spokesperson Luxolo Tyali said that between April and June 2017, Siqhola awarded the tender for the construction of the concrete slab on a road at Khalankomo village in Qumbu.
He submitted an invoice for R169 000 and signed a certificate of completion, even though the slab was never made.
Mhlontlo local municipality paid the money into his sister-in-law’s account and he spent the money.
Struggling
"He was only arrested after the community of Khalankomo informed the municipality that they were still struggling to access the remote area of their village because the slab they requested was never constructed," said Tyali.
Siqhola had pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutor Mtutuzeli Rangula secured the conviction after leading the evidence of Mhlontlo's acting municipal manager, Thando Mase, as well as the owner of the company fraudulently awarded the tender, and the ward councillor of Khalankomo Village.
However, the matter took a twist, as Siqhola, who was out on a warning, was arrested during the trial again after the police foiled a murder attempt on Mase, the State's key witness.
Siqhola was expected back in the Mthatha Magistrate's Court on 22 January 2021, to face a charge of conspiracy to commit murder and illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.