Five people have appeared before the Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crime Court after they were arrested for crimes including fraud, theft, and money laundering.
Mpumalanga Hawks spokesperson Captain Dineo Lucy Sekgotodi said the five were accused of defrauding struggling power utility Eskom.
“Zandile Rosemary Ngcobo, 43, an Eskom employee working at Tutuka Power Station as the procurement officer (buyer) together with her co-accused Annemarie Stander, 55, Jessica Khubheka, 61, Solomon Twala, 59, and Nomsa Sibiya, 49, appeared before the Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Thursday,” said Sekgotodi.
She said the five were arrested by the Middelburg-based Hawks’ serious commercial crime investigation team.
“The investigation revealed that during 2021, Eskom’s Tutuka Power Station issued an order to Umnandi Conference and Catering for the purchase and delivery of two containers at the power station.
“It is alleged that the accused (Ngcobo), as procurement officer, colluded with the service provider (Umnandi Services) and submitted fraudulent documents, inflated the prices from R60 000 to R939 000 causing actual prejudice to Eskom,” said Sekgotodi.
She said the case against the five accused was postponed to June 8 for the drafting of the charges.
Earlier this week, Ngcobo appeared before the Standerton Magistrate’s Court where she was released on R5 000 bail.
Ngcobo was arrested by the Hawks and Eskom investigators.
The matter was then postponed to Thursday, in the Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court where Ngcobo joined the other accused.
-IOL
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