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'Red tape' saves commissioner
11/02/2008 19:16 - (SA)
Walter Ka Nkosi
Polokwane - Bureaucratic red tape appears to have saved Limpopo's land claims commissioner Mashile Mokono from suspension after he was formally charged with criminal fraud and perjury in a R2.5m land scam last year.
National Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulama Xingwana's office has confirmed that government was aware that Mokono and three of his commission staff had been arrested on December 13 for allegedly subverting money intended for impoverished rural villagers.
"The minister is aware of the case, but has not received any documents, and specifically the charge sheet, from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).
Neither the minister nor the national Land Claims Commission can take action against [Mokono] if we haven't been supplied with legal documents. At this stage, we are in the dark," said commission spokesperson Pulane Molefe.
Molefe was unable to say whether either the ministry or commission had sent representatives to Mokono's two court appearances in Nelspruit but insisted that both bodies would act quickly should there be any evidence that Mokono abused his authority or access to state resources.
NPA spokesperson, Tlali Tlali, questioned whether either the ministry or commission had ever requested copies of the case against Mokono.
Scorpions uncover the scam
"Who did they communicate with and when? As far as I know, no one from Xingwana's office has asked for any information," he said. "The Scorpions are prepared to give them what they need."
Mokono was arrested by a Scorpions task team following a four-year undercover investigation, on charges that he masterminded the creation of bogus land claimants in the village of Dwarsloop in Bushbuckridge.
The "ghosts" were allegedly used to inflate a R2.5m cash compensation settlement meant for thousands of real villagers who were removed from their ancestral land by apartheid authorities in 1981.
Scorpions investigators claim that the bogus claimants were used to fraudulently channel money away from the real villagers.
The cash allegedly instead went to Mokono and a suspected network of accomplices.
Four of his colleagues at the commission, Mokotedi Thago Lucas, 34, Motjaji Modisho, 33, Nengo Benedict Letakgomo, 31 and Charles Madumetja Ngoasheng, 38, have all since also been arrested.
Mokono out on bail
Mokono was released on R7 000 bail by the Nelspruit regional court on January 9, on condition he not contact any witnesses, while his co-accused were each granted R6 000 bail.
They are all expected to appear in the same court again on March 14 when a trial date will be set. They have not been asked to plead yet.
The Transvaal Agricultural Union's northern branch, TAU-SA North, has expressed outrage that Mokono had not yet been suspended.
"We are amazed and outraged that the regional commissioner could still be responsible for public land matters in the light of the serious allegations that he is facing," said TAU-SA North chairperson Dries Joubert.
Mokono is the second regional land claims commissioner to be implicated in corruption in recent years.
Mpumalanga commissioner Nceba Ngana was fired in 2004 after a forensic audit showed that he had colluded with property speculators to fraudulently inflate the value of land earmarked for purchase by the state.
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