Sbu Ndebele out on bail after appearing on corruption charges

15 December 2015

Durban - Former transport minister Sibusiso Ndebele and his former director general George Mahlalela are expected back in court in July 2016 on charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering.

Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi on Tuesday confirmed that the cases were linked.

Ndebele appeared in the Durban Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday on charges of fraud, corruption and money laundering.

He was reportedly released on R10 000 bail.

R10m in bribes

KwaZulu-Natal National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Nathasha Kara said the matter would be heard at the Pretoria Commercial Crimes court, where Mahlalela appeared, but that Ndebele appeared in court in Durban because a warrant of arrest was issued in Durban.

The Mercury reported on Tuesday that Ndebele was accused of accepting over R10m in bribes over the extension of a multi-billion rand eNatis project.

Eyewitness News (EWN) earlier reported that according to the indictment, the former transport minister is accused of accepting R10 264 000 between October 2010 and September 2012, via his Investec account.

The tenders he is accused of unlawfully influencing relate to the extension of the eNatis system management contract to a company named Tasima, the owner of eNatis.

EWN reported on Tuesday that Ndebele had allegedly accepted the money in order to facilitate tenders worth more than R2bn.

Hawks investigation

On Monday, Mulaudzi in a statement confirmed that the former director general of the department of transport, Mahlalela and his co-accused - Zakhele Gilbert Thwala, 56, Sibusiso Justin Ncube, 48 and Tebogo Kgosietsile Trevor Mphuti, 45 - had appeared before the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court after they were arrested for fraud, corruption and money laundering.

Mulaudzi said Mahlalela allegedly spearheaded the renewal of the eNatis contract without following proper procedure.

"The Hawks investigation has revealed that soon after the contract was renewed, Tasima (Pty) Ltd, a company that owns eNatis, deposited millions of rand to Mahlalela’s bank account. Thwala, Ncube and Mphuti also benefited from the entire deal."

Mulaudzi said the four were released on R10 000 bail each.

This article first appeared on News24 – see here.