LUCAS LEDWABA
DURING a recent meeting to address Limpopo’s water woes, Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu warned the troubled Lepelle Northern Water that it had ‘smelly armpits’ and the department was now beginning to have the same odour as a result.
On Thursday morning the putrid odour of the Water Board permeated through the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Polokwane when a former high-ranking executive appeared in court to face criminal charges.
Phineas Kgahlisho Legodi, the board’s former chief executive officer, appeared in court to face charges of kidnapping, extortion and corruption.
Legodi along with controversial businessman Matome Sefalafala have been implicated in the kidnapping of the water board’s acting chief executive Ahuiwi Netshidaulu last November.
A police officer stationed at the Mamelodi police station in Tshwane, Sergeant Gideon Matlala has also been implicated in the kidnapping, according to the National Prosecuting Authority.
During the alleged kidnapping, Netshidaulu was driven by policemen from Limpopo to Gauteng. He was allegedly forced to authorise a payment of R2.9 million to Falaz General Trading & Construction- owned by Sefalafala. The state alleges that Sefalafala claimed the payment was for money owed to him by the Water Board.
Netshidaulu had earlier allegedly refused to authorise the payment on the basis that the High Court had found the awarding of the tender to be irregular and invalid. The board also resolved that no further payments should be made to Sefalafala’s company following the High Court judgement.
Lepelle chief financial officer Sibongile Mathevula, who made two payments to Sefalafala’s company, despite the court judgment, has since been suspended after the entity sought legal opinion on the matter.
Legodi, Sefalafala and Matlala are expected back in court on 23 September. On 16 December 2020, Gideon Matlala was arrested by the Organised Crime unit in Gauteng and he appeared in Polokwane Magistrates court for kidnapping and extortion.
Legodi and Sefalafala are out on bail on a separate matter on charges including fraud, corruption and forgery.
Legodi, who was suspended from Lepelle by then minister of water and sanitation Lindiwe Sisulu as part of a corruption busting clean out of water boards last year, is alleged to have corruptly awarded a R45 million tender to Falaz General Trading in 2018.
The company is owned by Sefalafala. The tender was for the collection, removal and disposal of hazardous waste management.
Legodi, who lost a court battle against his suspension resigned from Lepelle in a haste in August last year. However earlier this year a Special Tribunal judge endorsed an order by the Special Investigating Unit that Legodi be prevented from selling his properties.
The tribunal further interdicted and restrained the Municipal Employees Union Retirement Fund from releasing Legodi’s pension benefits pending the outcome of his case.
Legodi was implicated in a scandal involving a failed water project meant to provide scores of residents from 55 villages in Giyani with water.
During his visit to Limpopo last week, Mchunu who was appointed to the portfolio following a cabinet reshuffle by president Ramaphosa earlier this year said the project had cost the state a whopping R3.3 billion.
Mchunu said the project was initially undertaken without a budget and proper scoping which saw the costs escalating to R3.3 billion.
He said Lepelle had indicated it needed a further R1 billion to finalise the project. Mchunu said the department, together with the SIU and the Hawks are gunning for all those implicated.
The case continues.
- Inside Politics
