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The Star reports that a staggering R140 million in an alleged elaborate fraud and corruption case has snagged two senior police officers.
Tender rot in the SA Police Service (SAPS) was laid bare in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Friday when Lieutenant-General Ramahlapi Mokwena and Brigadier James Ramanjalum appeared alongside eight other officers and six civilians in the business sector on charges of fraud, corruption, theft and money laundering amounting to R56m. This was related to a 2017 tender to brand police vehicles, in which there has been alleged intimidation of innocent officers, family favours, misrepresentation of IDs and document manipulation. Two companies – Vatika Trading and Kgotho Trading – were granted millions of rand for work supposedly fraudulently acquired. Ramanjalum and Mokwena also face R84m in fraud and corruption charges, which were instituted in 2018, in another matter before the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court related to the fitting of Gauteng police vehicles with sirens, radio and other equipment. This brings to R140m the alleged tender graft that Mokwena and Ramanjalum are embroiled in. Mokwena, who recently retired from the police, was the national head for supply chain management, while Ramanjalum is still the SAPS’s national head of procurement. All the accused indicated that they were innocent and would plead not guilty. All of them, except for Ramanjalum, were released on R5,000 bail. Ramanjalum remains in custody and will return to court on Thursday for the finalisation of his bail hearing.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Khaya Koko on page 2 of The Star of 8 June 2020
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