MPUMALANGA – Three men have appeared in court on Tuesday for alleged theft and intimidation after they demanded a share of two million rand reportedly paid by the Provincial Department of Health to a Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) based in Kwaggafontein in December 2020.

Jacob Gabisani Shaka Twala (45), Lucky Thulani Sithole (34) and Emmanuel solly Machava (42), were served with court summons following an investigation by the Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team last year. The investigation revealed that on more than two occasions the accused met with the owner of the NPO and demanded to be paid from the entity’s coffers.

In one such meeting one of the accused took the complainant’s laptop and transferred amounts ranging from R100 000 to R150 000 on three transactions to different bank accounts. The complainant was only able to stop two transactions before they were processed.  The trio who are Kwaggafontein residents were in the company of Manqoba Daniel Sibanyoni who is still at large, a warrant for his arrest has been issued, anyone who knows his whereabouts is urged to contact the investigating officer Captain Thembelani Nkambule on: 082 303 9872

The case against the trio has been postponed to 15 February 2022, pending further investigation and tracing of the outstanding suspect.

Source: South African Police Service