Municipal manager arrested by HAWKS for second time in a year for tender corruption
NORTH WEST – Former municipal manager of the Bojanala district in North West, Patrick Shikwane (51), was arrested in September 2022 on charges of fraud and corruption relating to a dodgy Information Communication Technology tender. At the time, it was alleged that Shikwane (51) irregularly appointed a company called Big Time Strategic Consultants to provide ICT audit services and development of an ICT strategy for the municipality. The tender was worth R2.4 million. Just over a year later, on 26 September 2023, Shikwane was arrested again alongside businessman Moses Malesa (51) on fraud charges relating to an alleged R1 million payment that was made to Malesa’s Marole Nameng Trading for the provision of disaster relief materials. The materials were never delivered. Shikwane was granted R10,000 bail, while Malesa’sa was given R5,000 bail following a brief appearance in the Rustenburg Specialised Crimes Court last Wednesday. “In December 2018, Shikwane allegedly appointed Marole Nameng Trading to supply Bojanala District Municipality with disaster relief materials. The accused allegedly authorised payment to the tune of over R1 million to Marole Trading without following proper supply chain processes,” said Hawks spokesperson Tinyiko Mathebula. The former municipal manager has also been implicated in alleged graft involving R134 million meant for a housing project in the Rustenburg local municipality that was erroneously paid into the Bojanala district municipality account. The City Press reported that Shikwane authorised payments of more than R2 million for two laptops, R10 million to an events management company, over R350,000 for lunch and transportation of councillors attending a one-day meeting, and R299, 500 for 60 food parcels. Action SA in the North West has condemned the allegations against the municipal manager while commending the Hawks for the arrest. “We are on record stating that there is no place for dishonest civil servants in the public service and that those who continue to steal state resources must be dealt with effectively to sound a warning that improper conduct cannot be tolerated, as resolved at our inaugural policy conference last month,” said the party’s provincial leader Kwena Mangope. Shikwane and Masela are expected back in court on 16 October 2023.