Staff Reporter
uThukela District Municipality manager Langelihle Jili has been arrested on corruption charges after allegedly accepting R100,000 from a service provider and subsequently offering Hawks investigators R600,000 to avoid arrest.
The Hawks said in a statement on Friday that Jili, 46, was arrested on Wednesday alongside one Bongumenzi Dlamini, 26, following an undercover operation conducted by the Durban Serious Corruption Investigation unit. Both were charged with corruption.
Jili allegedly demanded money from a service provider in exchange for processing payment for services already rendered to the municipality.
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The service provider reported the matter to the Hawks, prompting an investigation and an undercover operation.
Jili was arrested after allegedly accepting R100,000 from the complainant.
During his arrest, he allegedly offered investigating officers R600,000 and arranged for the cash to be delivered to the Hawks’ offices in Durban.
Dlamini was arrested for allegedly giving the gratification to the officers.
The Hawks seized the R600,000 as evidence and said the money would be referred for an asset forfeiture investigation.
Both accused appeared in the Durban Specialised Commercial Crime Court, where they were remanded in custody.
The case was postponed to 27 October for a bail application.
KwaZulu-Natal acting Hawks provincial head Brigadier Zenobia Mulligan welcomed the arrests and praised the investigators for their good work.
“This arrest is a result of the good working relationship between the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation and the National Prosecuting Authority in the province.”
She added: “Our members demonstrated that their integrity is beyond reproach when they further charged the accused for offering a gratification.”
