Former Northern Cape Transport, Roads and Public Works MEC, John Block, will today make a brief appearance in the Upington Magistrates’ Court in connection with a R51 million tender fraud charge related to the construction of a mental health hospital.
It is alleged that in 2003, Babereki Consulting Engineers CC was fraudulently awarded a tender as a structural civil engineer and project manager within the mental health hospital construction project.
During his tenure as political head, Block and former Head of Department, Patience Mercia Mokhali, appointed Babereki Consulting Engineers CC through their director, Tshegolekae Motaung, even though the company did not meet the necessary requirements.
The actual contract amounted to approximately R51 million.
The Acting Provincial Head of the Hawks in the Northern Cape, Brigadier Prince Mashimbye, welcomed the arrest, saying that they will root out criminality "irrespective of when it happened in order for justice to prevail".
Block is incarcerated at the Upington Correctional Services centre. He was convicted of fraud, corruption and money laundering in 2015 and sentenced to a 15-year jail term. He, however, only started serving time in 2018 after multiple unsuccessful appeals in the superior courts, including the Constitutional Court. – SAnews.gov.za
