Cape Town - A Riversdale ward councillor and a municipal fieldworker are facing 21 counts of corruption and a count of fraud after their alleged cash for jobs scheme was exposed in an anti-corruption drive.
The ANC has confirmed that the councillor has since stepped aside from his duties while the matter is before court.
Ward 8 councillor, Christopher Philip Taute, has been released on R10 000 bail and been ordered not to contact witnesses in the case against him, while his co-accused, Claudio Conradie, was also released on R10 000 on the same conditions.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, said the two will appear in court again next month.
“The State alleges that Conradie, the manager of Hessequa Social Club Youth Development, was tasked with recruiting candidates for a workplace exposure project in the Southern Cape.
“The project was funded by the Transport SETA, which appointed ORE, a community and skills development consultant, focusing on fishing communities in and around the Western Cape Province.
“The Transport SETA was the custodian of the workplace exposure programme, whereas ORE was the implementing agent.
“Taute was the founder of the Good to Share Leadership Foundation, which operated in or around Riversdale, Western Cape.
“The foundation was not contracted by ORE or by the Transport SETA. Between 2016 and 2018, Conradie was appointed by ORE as an intern-supervisor for the workplace exposure programme at Riversdale, and Stillbaai.
“His responsibilities included recruiting a pool of candidates for the workplace exposure programme for a fixed-term contract.
“The state further alleges that Conradie and Taute devised a scheme to defraud ORE Consultants and the Transport SETA, by recruiting (two employees) to join the workplace exposure programme as a means of generating income for themselves.
“The accused instructed the employees to deposit between R1 000 and R2 500 cash as donations into the bank account of Taute’s foundation.
“They told the two that the payments were for the benefit of the foundation for securing employment at ORE. The two employees paid a total of R35 300 for the benefit of the two accused,” said Ntabazalila.
Their second alleged scheme involved recruiting and employing another person as ORE administrative clerk in Stilbaai.
Between January 2017 to 24 March 2017, Conradie instructed the ORE employee to make a monthly donation of R1 500 into the bank account of Taute’s foundation.
She questioned Taute about the donation and the accused did not deny or admit the instruction.
ANC spokesperson Sifiso Mtsweni said: “We have noted this case and we respect (Taute’s) rights of presumption of innocence until proven guilty However, in our discussions, we have reached a conclusion and welcome the decision of Taute to voluntarily step aside from all his responsibilities in the ANC and attend to this case until it’s conclusion.”
DA provincial leader and constituency head for the Hessequa region, Tertuis Simmers, said they noted the matter with concern.
Cape Times