EIGHT ACCUSED IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN STATE THEATRE (SAST) R24 MILLION GRAFT APPEARED IN COURT
PRETORIA – Thabo Abel Mashaba (37), Patricia Sibongile Mabena (41), Dimakatso Beauty Konaite (Masilo) (40) appeared this morning for their bail application in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. Mashaba was granted R1500 bail, Mabena was granted R3000 and Konaite (Masilo) was granted R5000.
Innocentia Buang Matseke (44) granted R1500, Dimakatso Francina Mashishi (38) granted bail R1500, Pauline Moraba Hlongwane (59) bail granted at R1500, Mokgadi Getrude Mooka (44) granted R1500, and Maletsatsi Anne Motswetsi (29) granted R2500 when they appeared this afternoon.
The bail application was following the arrest of the eight, yesterday 12 December 2023 and this morning, 13 December 2023 respectively. The eight accused including a former South African State Theatre (SAST) employee appeared in court following a meticulous investigation by the National Serious Corruption Investigation team. The allegations in this matter relate to money laundering, fraud and theft that took place at the South African State Theatre which was reported on 4 November 2018.
It is alleged that two employees from SAST siphoned money for their own personal gain as they flaunted the Supply Chain Management processes. The two employees allegedly utilised letter heads of existing companies to create fictitious invoices without the knowledge of the actual companies but changed the banking details to those belonging to the suspects’ relatives, resulting in the total amount stolen of R24 million.
Their case was postponed to the 27 February 2024 in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crime Court for disclosure and final decision. Three of the accused were ordered to hand over their travelling documents to the investigating officer.
