Johannesburg – Papers filed in the Nelspruit Magistrates Court outline how exactly African National Congress (ANC) MP Bongani Bongo and his co-accused allegedly spent money allocated to buy land for housing.
The problem was the land was not suitable for housing.
It is alleged the accused then wove an intricate web to pocket some of the money.
Eleven people and four companies have been charged with 69 counts of fraud, theft. Money laundering and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act.
They have all been granted bail of R10,000 each.
According to papers filed in the Nelspruit Magistrates Court, there was an intricate web of looting by the 15 people and companies.
The state said they exploited the purchase of land by government and used law firms to misrepresent facts to the national Department of Human Settlements on the true ownership, prices and use of the land.
The department paid R52-million to Singwane Attorneys in one transaction. The law firm was acting as conveyancers and was now one of the accused.
Singwane Attorneys gave landowners Freemax Farms a guarantee of R15-million and the property was transferred to another accused Bongiveli which became the owner of the land, at least on paper.
Then Bongiveli sold the land to the department for R32-million. They sold land that not only did not belong to them but also was not suitable for housing so it could never be used for that purpose.
Each of the players allegedly received kickbacks or a portion of the stolen money, including ANC’s Bongo’s brother, Joel, who allegedly received several payments of R300,000 as deposits to buy cars.
