Mbombela, Mpumalanga -
The fraud investigation into the construction of the 2010 World Cup Mbombela stadium should be extended to all host cities, the SA Youth Chamber of Commerce said on Monday.
“News of the arrest of the three suspects facing charges of forgery and fraud relating to the building of the Mbombela stadium in Mbombela, Mpumalanga is encouraging,” the SAYCC said in a statement.
It was gathering information on corruption in the construction of World Cup stadiums in all South African host cities, and would work closely with law enforcement agencies, it said.
SAYCC said the World Cup was a “corrupt deal” for the nation's young entrepreneurs. It said young and women entrepreneurs, and small and medium enterprises, were promised at least 20 percent of the business generated by the event.
“The promise that the event would bring a business boom to entrepreneurs was never kept.”.
The group said its efforts to have World Cup fraud probed would be part of an anti-corruption campaign, to be announced in September.
Last week, three people appeared in the Nelspruit Magistrate's Court on charges of fraud and forgery related to the construction of the Mbombela stadium.
Chris Gribb, Herbert Theledi and Kaizer Chiefs' manager Bobby Motaung are accused of forging SA Revenue Service documents to get a contract to build the Mbombela stadium for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. - Sapa