Home South African Senior ANC politician with links to Bosasa to appear in court

Senior ANC politician with links to Bosasa to appear in court

968

He will appear in court on fraud and corruption charges.

A senior ANC politician with links to Bosasa will appear in court today. (File Picture)

Johannesburg – A senior ANC politician, who has been linked to Bosasa through testimony at the commission of inquiry into state capture, will on Thursday morning appear in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court.

The former ANC MP, who was a portfolio committee chairperson, handed himself over to police at the Alberton police station.

He will appear in court to be formally charged with fraud and corruption. Only then will his identity be made public.

Thursday’s court appearance follows extensive investigations by the Investigative Directorate which was set up by President Cyril Ramaphosa to investigate allegations arising from the long-running inquiry which is chaired by Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo.

Sindisiwe Twala, the spokesperson for the Investigative Directorate, confirmed the ANC politician was arrested as part of an Investigative Directorate led initiative.

She said the politician was facing fraud and corruption charges and more details would be released after his court appearance.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday the Hawks arrested six suspects during a simultaneous operation in the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng on allegations of fraud and corruption in relation to the 2014 Free State asbestos project.

“Among those arrested are three senior government officials, three businessmen and five companies. The accused face 60 charges which include corruption, fraud, money laundering in contravention of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act as well as Contravention of the Public Finance Management Act,” Hawks national spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi confirmed.

The arrests on Wednesday and the former ANC MP’s appearance in court on Thursday are expected to be the first in a series of cases emanating from testimony before the Zondo commission.

The Zondo commission heard last year how the ANC politician received more than R500 000 in alleged bribes from the controversial Bosasa group.

The money was used to pay for the politician’s daughters university fees, the politician told the commission last year. He also denied it was a bribe, but instead said it was a loan.

* This is developing story.

IOL

Previous articleSevere weather warning issued for parts of Northern Cape
Next articleNehawu vows not to give up salary increases fight