Hawks probe R664‚000 paid to new mayor of Nelson Mandela Bay

A bombshell affidavit of a Hawks investigator details how hundreds of thousands of rands were paid into the account of Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Mongameli Bobani by a company accused of siphoning off money meant for the city’s beleaguered bus system.

The seven payments over a period of a year‚ totalling R664‚000‚ form part of the Hawks’ investigation into fraud‚ corruption and money laundering involving Bay municipal officials‚ politicians and businesses.

The transactions‚ from April 2014 to May 2015‚ are what prompted six Hawks investigators to swoop on Bobani’s office at the city hall earlier in October. Investigators from the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation seized computers and documents from several offices.

An affidavit from Hawks investigator captain Henk Fourie‚ which formed part of a search-and-seizure warrant served on Bobani‚ makes allegations of a “corrupt relationship” between him and businessman Fareed Fakir‚ whose companies benefited from multimillion-rand contracts from the municipality‚ most of which did not go through the proper tender processes.

Port Elizabeth lawyer Danie Gouws‚ who is representing Bobani‚ said on Friday his client was not a suspect and was co-operating with the authorities. “During an investigation the authorities investigate guilt as well as innocence.” Gouws‚ who is also representing Fakir‚ said there was no comment to give at this stage on the businessman.

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