THE current and former mayors of Beaufort West were among four suspects who appeared in court on Friday charged with tender corruption worth R600 000.
Beaufort West’s ANC mayor, Quinton Louw, 47, Karoo Democratic Force president and council speaker Noel Constable, 47, along with the ANC’s Central Karoo District Municipality speaker, Mkhululi Hangana, 43, and municipal official Norwood Kotze, 48, made a brief appearance at the Beaufort West Magistrates Court on Friday.
The four suspects were linked to an investigation by the Hawks into allegatins of an illegal and irregularly awarded contract back in 2019 relating to the upgrades of roads in the Merweville.
Constable, who was mayor of the financially-strapped town until he resigned in June, went into a coalition with the ANC for control of the council after breaking his party’s political marriage with the DA who were in power. Constable was succeeded by Louw, who has been promising a turnaround strategy for the troubled municipality. The group handed themselves to police early on Friday morning.
Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority Eric Ntabazalila said the men were charged in connection with a tender fraud worth R600 000.
“They were released on bail of R5000 each with conditions. Their case will be back on the roll on November 26 for attorneys of the accused to be present,” he said.
The men face eight charges of corruption and fraud.
Beaufort West was flagged among 22 municipalities in the country, which received disclaimers on their audit report and were unable to provide evidence for financial statements worth R5.5 billion.
Last month the provincial executive resolved to intervene in the municipality as a result of a crisis in its financial affairs by putting in place a financial recovery plan.