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Former municipal manager of Collins Chabane municipality Ms Tsakani Charlotte Ngobeni. Photo: Thulamela Municipality website.

Another VBS scalp?

 

By Kaizer Nengovhela and Anton van Zyl

The VBS Mutual Bank scandal is claiming more scalps, albeit amidst a reluctance of local political leaders to act in a transparent manner where allegations of corruption are being investigated.

Last Friday, the Collins Chabane Municipality’s former municipal manager (MM) appeared in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on charges of corruption and contravention of the Municipal Financial Management Act (MFMA). The municipality, however, remains mum on whether the former MM received a golden handshake or whether she was only temporarily suspended.

Ms Tsakani Charlotte Ngobeni appeared alongside seven co-accused in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in connection with the looting of VBS Mutual Bank. Her co-accused include ANC Limpopo leader Danny Msiza, ANC-linked ‘businessman’ Kabelo Matsepe and the former COO of the mutual bank, Robert Madzonga. 

Ngobeni was granted bail of R50 000 and she must be back in court on 6 May. The State is accusing her of depositing R120 million of the municipality’s funds into an interest-bearing fixed-deposit account at VBS Mutual Bank for a period of three months. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)’s spokesperson, Sipho Ngwema, said that, in return, she had received kickbacks from people accused of being part of a racketeering enterprise whose aim had been to swindle VBS Mutual Bank.

The NPA argues that Ngobeni, as responsible official, had known at the time that investing the municipal funds with an institution not registered under the Banks Act had been illegal.

“A few days after that, on 28 October 2017 to 30 October 2017, Ngobeni received R51 196 for accommodation, meals, beverages, spa treatments and spa products purchased at the Fairlawns Boutique Hotel and Spa in Morningside from Moshate’s FNB account,” said Ngwema.

“This account belonged to Kabelo Matsepe, a director of Moshate Investment Group (Pty) Ltd (Moshate), a political activist, and former prominent member of the Youth League of the African National Congress in the Limpopo Province,” he said. Matsepe and 13 others collectively face 188 counts of racketeering, corruption, fraud, theft, and money laundering in connection with the VBS corruption scandal.

Matsepe, along with Danny Msiza, was also released on bail on Friday in connection with the alleged plundering of VBS Mutual Bank. The case is due back in court on March 26, when they will join other accused in the matter to finalise pre-trial management issues and get a High Court date.

Don’t talk to me, talk to him …

Questions about Ngobeni’s status at the Collins Chabane Municipality were kicked from one person to the next over the past week. The municipality’s website indicates that the acting MM is Mr Risenga Richard Shilenge.

At the same time, rumours had circulated that Ngobeni had resigned (or received a golden handshake). This was apparently accepted during a council meeting held on 26 February this year.

Limpopo Mirror contacted the spokesperson of the municipality, Mr George Sithole, to determine the status of the municipal manager. Sithole refused to comment and referred all questions to the mayor, Cllr Moses Maluleke. When Maluleke was reached, he did not want to comment, saying that this was the responsibility of the communications manager. All municipalities have officials in place who get paid to interact with the public and deal with media enquiries.

Sithole was contacted again and told that the mayor believed that dealing with questions from the media was his (Sithole’s) job. Sithole was asked to please send a press release that explained the current situation to the public. By Wednesday, he had not yet done this.

In December 2018, Limpopo Mirror reported on the steps that various municipalities had taken in response to the VBS Mutual Bank scandal. Limpopo’s Premier, Stan Mathabatha, had announced that six of the province’s mayors would be removed from their positions with immediate effect. A seventh mayor, Florence Radzilani, had resigned as Vhembe’s mayor shortly before the press conference.

The mayors were all at the head of municipalities that had invested billions in the mutual bank. The investments were done in violation of the MFMA and the allegations were that many of the officials and politicians had benefitted from kickbacks received from VBS. The total amount that was invested by Limpopo municipalities in VBS was R2,6 billion, of which just more than R1,08 billion was still outstanding at that stage.

At Collins Chabane Municipality, the mayor who received the boot was Joyce Bila. The premier’s report recommended that disciplinary action be taken against the MM and the CFO of this municipality. At the end of October that year (2018), this municipality opted to suspend its CFO, Mr Eddy Makamu, and the MM, Ms Tsakani Ngobeni, provisionally. Whether Ms Ngobeni was reinstated after that remains uncertain.

 

News - Date: 19 March 2021

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Kaizer Nengovhela

Kaizer Nengovhela started writing stories for Limpopo Mirror in 2000. Prior to that he had a five year stint at Phala-Phala FM as sports presenter. In 2005 Kaizer received an award from the province's premier as Best Sports Presenter. The same year he was also nominated as Best Sports Reporter by the Makhado Municipality. Kaizer was awarded the Mathatha Tsedu award in 2014.

Email: [email protected]

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