Johannesburg – Three suspects will appear before the Witbank Magistrate’s Court on Thursday in connection with fraud involving R1.6 million, Mpumalanga police said.
A member of the eMalahleni Local Municipality’s Mayoral Committee, a former ward councillor and a member of a local cooperative were arrested by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) on Wednesday afternoon.
Spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said: "It is alleged that in 2013 the suspects embezzled money from the cooperative and that they allegedly kept money for themselves which they received from farmers who were hiring the farms from the cooperative".
Mulaudzi said the Hawks were hot on the heels of a fourth suspect "whose arrest was imminent".
The National Head of Hawks Lieutenant General Mthandazo Ntlemeza warned that corruption and all other crimes will not be tolerated at municipalities, other spheres of government and the private sector.