By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The Hawks Serious Commercial Crimes unit in the Free State has made a breakthrough in the investigations regarding millions of rands that are unaccounted for construction of the Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Brandfort House Museum.
The project was meant to transform the house of Madikizela-Mandela that was banished to by the apartheid government into a museum. The house was in Brandfort, Free State.
The renovations have since stalled because of the rising costs as well as the money that was allocated for the project that went missing.
The five suspects arrested are between the ages of 41 and 81. They were arrested in Free State and Gauteng by the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation.
“It is alleged that during the period of January 2008 until December 2010, money was allocated to the Brandfort Museum project, popularly known as the Winnie Mandela Museum, by the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture,” said Free State spokesperson for the Hawks, Captain Christopher Singo.
“The money that was allocated was then misused and the service providers were appointed without following the proper procurement processes.”
Singo added that the project led to the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture losing more than R700 000.
The suspects are expected to appear at the Welkom Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday, 21 September 2022.
They are facing charges of fraud, theft, contravention of the Public Finance Management Act, and contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act.