Charge: Bobby and Mbombela Stadium |
IT was a shocking phone-call. Thursday afternoon. All
charges against Bobby Motaung have been dropped. Be careful what you write now.
What? After SIX attempts to get his corruption case dropped,
the son of Kaizer and general manager of South Africa’s biggest football
franchise, was going to get clean away with his part in the huge fraud
surrounding the building of the Mbombela Stadium for the 2010 World Cup?
Remember this was a case which has cost lives. Former
Mbombela speaker, Jimmy Mohlala, and Mpumalanga sport and culture spokesperson
Sammy Mpatlanyane are both dead after questions were asked over the R1.2bn cost
of the giraffe-strewn Mbombela World Cup venue.
Mohlala was shot dead in January 2009. Mpatlanyane was
killed in January 2010. So far, Motaung and his co-accused, Herbert Theledi and
Chris Gribb, have not been officially linked with those deaths. They were
originally charged with a R143m fraud.
But I can reassure South Africans. The NPA is not done yet.
And the Hawks still have their claws in to Bobby, the man who boasted that he
needed no CV for his lucrative role in “the family business.”
Motaung was released on R15,000 bail, reduced from the
original R200,000. When it was suggested Motaung should be suspended from his
job as Kaizer Chiefs general manager – where he oversees transfers and, just
this month, decided NOT to renew Jimmy Tau’s contract amid a storm of protest –
Bobby insisted the case had nothing to do with the AmaKhosi.
Three months ago, I spoke to the investigating officer who
arrested “Bobsteak” twice. There was a particular storm when he collared
Motaung for a second time IN COURT on March 1.
My source assured me then: “We have a watertight case
against Mr Motaung. I would not have arrested him in those circumstances unless
I had all the evidence I need.”
And last night, I tracked down the same gentleman again,
though his telephone number has been changed. After an initial hesitation, he
recognised my voice and told me: “Yes, I stand by what I said then. I am
confident in the case I have against Mr Motaung and his two co-accused.”
Tomorrow I will try to persuade my source to go public and
talk on “Bollockz” my show on Thursday morning on www.ballz.co.uk. We go live on the internet between
10am and noon.
My source will speak to the NPA in the meantime. Incredibly
he was not consulted last week. Those charges of fraud, corruption and forgery
may have been dropped by Magistrate Roelf Smith, but no certificate of “Nolle
prosequi” (indicating, finally, the case will not be pursued) has been issued.
Motaung was first arrested in August 2012 and then again
earlier this year in a case described as “high-profile” by the Neslpruit
Regional Court. Much like the Oscar Pistorius case, delays and prevarication
from Motaung’s lawyer Zola Majavu and confusion in the NPA have seen the case
drag on. And on.
Magistrate Smith used two letters from the NPA, showing a
conflict over where the case would be heard, to justify the dropping of
charges. Majavu claimed: “The NPA is at war with itself,” and the case was duly
removed from the roll.
But that does not mean an end to the matter. And remember, there
is a second, bigger charge pending after that second arrest – a R920m case involving
Motaung, Gribb, his former lawyer Michael Romanos, Mbombela’s former municipal
manager Jacob Dladla, and former Ehlanzeni district municipality technical
services manager, Tebogo Kubeka.
That charge suggests Bobby was part of the “gang” who corruptly
collaborated to appoint construction giant Basil Reed to build the stadium.
My source says: “I will talk to the NPA. This case is not
over. Not by a long way. This is just the first part of a bigger fish we want
to fry. The public must know about the Mbombela Stadium.”
As a chiefs fan. I wish him years behind bars. He will learn to respect people and treat people with dignity.
ReplyDeleteLet's leave dats to the court of law, he might be innocent after all
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that it's not all over as suggested in the media. This cas is too big to be thrown out of court cause of a few petty issues. The NPA must get their story straight already, hau!!
ReplyDeleteWhat I have come to learn about our country's justice system is that it is not enforced in equal measures when it comes to 'high-profile' cases. If the cop that arrested Bobby was so sure of his evidence, then why was the case still dragging for so long? Suddenly the charges are dropped? Something's not right. There should be consistency in our litigations. I pray that justice prevails at the end of the day.
ReplyDeleteWe couldn't succeed to go after Zuma with his glaring flags and we wanna kill Bobby because he 's Bobby (a Motaung). Get real!
ReplyDelete