3 of the 15 accused in SAPS PPE corruption case granted bail

Bail has been granted to three of the 15 accused in the R1.9 million police PPE corruption case in the Palm Ridge Magistrates court.

The group – including former and current police officials – applied for bail after they were arrested on charges relating to an alleged scheme to unlawfully benefit from the supply of latex gloves to the SAPS in April 2020.

Salamina Khoza and Isaac Ngobeni initially told the court they could only afford bail of R500, while Stephina Mahlangu – who is currently employed at the police – said she could afford R5,000.

But Magistrate Phillip Venter said the State had shown that Khoza was the sole director of at least three companies that had benefited more than R3 million from doing business with the police.

Ngobeni is a retired colonel enjoying the full benefits of his pension.

The State didn’t contest the R5,000 amount by Mahlangu, but wanted bail set at R20,000 for Khoza and R10,000 for Ngobeni.

The court, however, said it did not see a reason for the differing amounts and set bail at R5,000 each.

The bail application for the remaining 12 accused will be heard on Wednesday.

-EWN

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