Two City of Cape Town officials and the directors and employees of the ILitha Painters and Decorators, trading as The Construction, were released on bail after they were nabbed for alleged fraud estimated at R2.5 million.
The accused appeared briefly at the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on Thursday for a bail application - a few hours after their arrest.
The company, which is a service provider to the City, is also charged along with the other eight accused.
The accused include the company’s directors; Asif Khan and Abdul Karrim Khan, and Uwais Khan, Irfaan Khan, Craig Kannemeyer and Abdulatief Abrahams who are listed as its employees as well as Adam Majiet and Alistair Stanbul who City employees.
All the Khan brothers were granted R50 000 each bail, while Kannemeyer, Abrahams as well as Majiet and Stanbul were each granted bail of R10 000.
The state alleged that the employees of the company including the directors supplied false invoices to the City and allegedly misrepresented some of the work they charged for as being finalised.
Majiet and Stanbul allegedly allowed the invoices to be authorised even though they knew the work was not completed.
When granting them bail, Magistrate Ronel Oliver said she did not regard the accused as a flight risk or that there was a likelihood of them committing a crime while out on bail.
However, she also set conditions which all the accused need to adhere to.
These included:
* Handing in their passports no later than November 25 to the investigating officer;
* All the accused except Abrahams must report to Diep River Police Station every Friday. Abrahams was ordered to report to AthloneSAPS every Friday
*They were instructed not to leave town without the authorisation of the investigating officer or any port of entry or exit;
*Not to apply for passports and
To refrain from contacting directly or indirectly state witnesses, Nandi du Toit, Hanif Loonat and Raziek Rajah.
Loonat opened a case with the police in October 2020 against ILitha Painters and Decorators alleging a corrupt relationship with the City.
The case related to a housing tender for the maintenance of the City owned housing units.
And on Thursday morning Loonat opened another case against City other officials including manager Lungelo Mbandazayo for allegedly defeating the ends of justice.
Leader of the Cape Coloured Congress, Fadiel Adams, accused the City officials of allowing alleged fraud and corruption to "flourish".
The City said in its response to the claims: "There have been no delays in the City's investigative, legal and labour processes… these processes must be thoroughly undertaken, so that both the legal and labour conditions can be assessed and appropriately dealt with.
“The City has a zero tolerance approach to corruption and fraud, and respects all due process.
“The investigation into the alleged allegations has been finalised and the final report and its findings are being studied.
“Labour relations is being consulted on the findings and City will respond decisively where required.’
The case was postponed to December 12 for the state to provide the defence with contents of the dockets and to allow the two City officials to obtain their own legal representation.
Weekend Argus