THE FORMER MUNICIPAL MANAGER’S CASE WAS POSTPONED FOR CONSULTATION AND PRETRIAL.
REPORTER: TSHEPO C MOLOTO: The Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting in Mmabatho, postponed the case against the former Acting Municipal Manager of Ratlou Local Municipality, Cassius Sejake (46), to 12 June 2023, for legal consultation and pretrial. A presiding officer has been appointed to preside over the case and Sejake’s bail of R5000 was extended until his next court appearance.
The state intends to file a notice for the court to investigate the numerous delays resulting in a series of postponements, attributed to Sejake withdrawing the services of his attorneys and appointing new ones. The NPA deems these delays to be unreasonable and hopes the court will make a ruling to halt further postponements on the matter.
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.
