Johasnnesburg - Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile welcomed the arrest of former National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) head Andile Lungisa and three other people on Friday.
“Corruption, fraud or any illegality will not be tolerated. Hence, I urge the law enforcement agencies to act decisively, without fear, favour or prejudice against anyone who breaks the law,” he said.
Mashatile said he would “watch the case with keen interest”, as he would like to see those implicated in the alleged fraud and money-laundering brought to book.
Lungisa appeared with Thabo Shogolo, Xolisile Guquza, and Ursula Sali for allegedly accepting and sharing among themselves R2.5
million paid by the department for the Nelson Mandela Sports Day concert.
They allegedly promised that US singer R Kelly would perform at the concert, but he did not.
Lungisa and the others were arrested after handing themselves over to the Hawks on Friday.
In their court appearance later in the day, Lungisa and Shogolo were granted bail of R10 000 each, Guquza was granted bail of R5 000, and Sali was released on a warning.
They were instructed to surrender their passports to the investigating officer, and not to make contact with the State witnesses.
The case was postponed until October 30.
At the time of the concert, the department said it had entered into negotiations with the promoter of Kelly's recent tour to South Africa.
It was subsequently announced that the star was on the bill for a music concert that would follow the Nelson Mandela Day's sporting events.
However, it was discovered that R Kelly's management had been unaware of the agreement, and that he had left the country as planned.
Sapa