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- Three men have appeared in court on fraud and corruption charges.
- Two of the accused are former City of Cape Town employees.
- The Hawks said the three, including a company director, were involved in a corrupt deal that led to the City losing R46 million.
Two former municipal officials and a company director have appeared in a Cape Town court in connection with a R46-million corruption case.
The men – Brett Lucas, 47; Jonathan van Rooy, 54; and Koos Johannes Muller, 52; along with a juristic person, the company JVR Construction CC – appeared in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
Their court appearance came after warrants of arrest were issued against them stemming from allegations of fraud and corruption, which the forensic division of the City of Cape Town reported to the Hawks.
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The City of Cape Town contracted JVR Construction CC, owned by Van Rooy, to perform maintenance on roads in and around the city. The contract was valid from November 2011 to September 2017, said Hawks spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Philani Nkwalase.
"It is reported that Van Rooy paid Lucas and Muller – who were attached to the water and sanitation division within the City – in order for them to fast-track the tender process.
"Forensic and financial investigations revealed that there were invoices that were backdated in order to facilitate payments to JVR Construction CC for services rendered. The City of Cape Town Municipality suffered a total loss surpassing [R46] million," said Nkwalase.
Van Rooy was released on R20 000 bail on Wednesday, while Lucas and Muller were released on R10 000 bail each. The case was postponed to 17 March 2023 for a Regional Court date.
Editor’s Note: In a previous version of this article the Hawks stated that the loss suffered by the City was R210 million. In fact it was R46 million. The article has been updated to reflect this. News24 apologies for the error.
