Eight suspects, including former public officials, have been arrested for the theft of funds from the South Cape Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) College.
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Members of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) in the Western Cape and officers attached to the Public Order Policing (POP) apprehended the suspects in George yesterday. According to the South African Police Service (SAPS), five of the eight people involved were public officials at the time of the alleged crimes, of which three are no longer employed by the Department of Education and three are private citizens. The TVET College’s then chief executive officer during the time of the offence is among those arrested.
The suspects are aged between 36 and 60 and already had warrants out for their arrest.
Zinzi Hani, the Hawks’ provincial spokesperson, says the eight suspects will be charged with corruption, 16 counts of fraud, and alternatively, theft. ‘It is alleged that between March 2009 and August 2014, the suspects who were employees and contractors of the South Cape College colluded together in violation of the relevant policies and procedures to unlawfully and intentionally submit non-compliance bid documents and quotations for the construction and renovations of the South Cape Colleges across all campuses in the district.’
‘Furthermore, the investigation revealed that the CEO influenced other officials to deviate from the tender process in order for the scheme to benefit the involved entities.’ Preliminary investigations revealed that some of the employees were directors or members of certain entities, though it was never disclosed whether they were directly involved or not.
‘This resulted in prejudice and a loss to the South Cape TVET College in the amount of over R24 million. This then led to the matter being reported to the Hawks in 2014 by the Department of Higher Education after it was established by the college that the funds meant for the construction of the college were used by the suspects to enrich themselves.’ Hani adds that more arrests are imminent.
The suspects will appear in the George Magistrates’ Court.
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