THE CASE AGAINST THE FORMER MUNICIPAL MANAGER TRANSFERRED TO THE SPECIALISED COMMERCIAL CRIMES COURT
The Atamelang Regional Court transferred the case against the former Acting Municipal Manager of Ratlou Local Municipality, Cassius Sejake (46), to the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court iin Mmabatho, and the matter is set to appear on 04 May 2023, for the appointment of a presiding officer. The bail of R5000 was extended until his next court appearance. The state is concerned with a series of postponements, attributed to Sejake withdrawing the services of his attorneys and appointing new ones, thus resulting in delays.
Sejake was arrested by the Hawks in September 2020, on charges related to the contravention of Section 173 of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), after allegedly flouting tender processes to the value of R7,8 million, between 2018 and 2019, when he was acting municipal manager at Ratlou Local Municipality. It is alleged that he failed as the then accounting officer, to take reasonable steps to ensure that procurement processes were followed and observed. Service providers were allegedly appointed without a competitive bidding process.
Investigations have long been completed and the state is ready to proceed with pre-trial conferencing for the trial to commence.
