One more arrest made in JB Marks Municipality
Another person has been arrested in a case of theft and fraud in JB Marks Municipality amounting to R5-million.
The mayor of JB Marks Municipality, Kgotso Khumalo, and Director Cyril Hendry have already been accused of funneling R5-million meant for the municipality into a trust account.
A court released them on warning after they were arrested and charged with fraud.
They have been ordered not to set foot near the municipality’s offices.
Mohau Shuping, another municipal official, presented himself to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation on Monday and appeared in the Potchefstroom magistrate’s court before being released on warning.
The three suspects will return to court on 1 December.
Hlomane Patrick Chauke from the ANC North West said the ANC is very disappointed and had met with the accused mayor, Khumalo and instructed him to step aside from his mayoral duties.
“We need to therefore implement the organizational resolution of having him step aside while he is attending his criminal case.”
Chauke said, “we really want a situation where there are men and women of stature that represent the ANC. The people of Tlkowe deserve better hence we are saying, “let the law take its course” and we will see the law prevail at the end of the day.”
MMC of Finance Kelvin Johnson has been appointed acting mayor in the interim, a decision criticised by local DA councillors.
In a statement, the official opposition said Johnson should have known financial misconduct was taking place and reported it.
The DA has attempted to institute multiple motions of no confidence against Khumalo.
Acting-mayor Johnson committed to assisting law enforcement, “we will offer all the required cooperation and support, from the municipality to the law enforcement agencies to ensure that whatever investigations is carried out to their logical conclusions.”
Johnson said service delivery will not be impacted by the ongoing investigation and stated his commitment to servicing his constituents.
The JB Marks Municipality was placed under provincial administration in May of 2019, and August of 2020, according to the Potchefstroom Herald.
#sapsHQ 1/2 Update: North West: Mohau Shuping (37), who is the caretaker for sports facilities at JB Marks municipality, handed himself over to the #Hawks this morning. He is the third suspect to be charged with fraud and theft in the case of the JB Marks municipality ME pic.twitter.com/tmTQxiXNwD
— SA Police Service 🇿🇦 (@SAPoliceService) October 26, 2020
Source: eNCA
In other news – Video: Taxi rank man with an angelic voice impresses South Africans
Velele Miya shared a video of Kwanele Khumalo singing and showed Mzansi that this minstrel has the voice of an angel. Kwanele was recorded in the open in a taxi rank belting out some amazing vocals while expertly playing the guitar.
His voice has a rich texture and people were amazed with some of the people commenting that they want to book him for events. Learn More
