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The former Municipal Manager of the Mahikeng Local Municipality has appeared in court in connection with an unlawful land sale in the value of R144 million.
The National Prosecuting Authority says the Molopo Magistrates’ Court postponed the case on Tuesday of 70-year-old Henny Smit so that more suspects can be arrested.
NPA spokesperson, Henry Mamothame, said he was granted R150 000 bail, following his arrest earlier in the day.
He said his arrest and court appearance relate to the unlawful sale of municipal land to the value of R144 million without council approval and further ignoring the competitive bidding process in October 2007.
"It is alleged that on 31 October 2007, Smit illegally agreed with a company for the sale of land belonging to the municipality.
"The said company only paid R5 million as a deposit to purchase the land. Investigations reveal that the company went into liquidation in December 2011 without paying the municipality the outstanding debt," Mamothame said.
He said Smit faces charges of fraud, theft, contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act as well as the Public Finance Management Act, four counts under the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Activities Act, and two counts of corruption and money laundering.
Smit will be back in court on the 8th of December.
