Former Eskom senior manager Frans Hlakudi has failed in his bid to have the tax fraud charges he is facing dropped.
On Thursday, Magistrate Adriaan Bekker in the Pretoria Regional Court dismissed Hlakudi's application to have the fraud rap struck from the 44 fraud and tax evasion-related charges he is facing.
The decision paves the way for authorities to move ahead with his prosecution on fraud and tax evasion charges amounting to R30 million. Hlakudi is expected back in court on May 24.
The charges relate to his personal tax affairs and his companies Hlakudi Translation and Interpretation, Coxinel Chicken and Bon Services Telcom. The funds were received between 2015 and 2018.
Hlakudi, a former senior manager for capital contracts at the power utility, is also set to appear in the Palm Ridge Magistrate's Court on June 1 in an R745 million corruption case related to Eskom's Kusile Power Station.
* More to come