“The company inflated rates and charged exceptionally high rates on premises that they leased to government departments.”
NO BAIL application was necessary for the accused who have been implicated in the latest Trifecta fraud investigation, when they appeared in the Kimberley Regional Court yesterday, as they were issued with summonses and not arrested.
The accused – the former chief executive of the South African Social Security Agency (Sassa), Edward Fezile Makiwane, the former head of the Department of Sport, Arts and Culture, Henry Herman Esau, the former Head of the Department of Agriculture, Wonder Dimakatso Mothibi, and the Trifecta group of companies – made a brief appearance on charges of fraud and contravention of the Public Financial Management Act.
Hawks spokesperson Colonel Katlego Mogale said the charges relate to contracts that were secured through the Trifecta group of companies in March 2006 through “influential government officials” and amounting to about R700 million.
“The company inflated rates and charged exceptionally high rates on premises that they leased to government departments. Bribes were paid to ensure that monthly rentals were paid in time without proper invoicing and to suppress all the faults contained in the building.”
The matter was postponed to February 17, 2020.
