John Block granted bail

FORMER ANC provincial chairperson John Block, 55, was granted bail of R50,000 in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday.

He will re-appear in court on August 10 along with his co-accused - the former HOD for the Department of Transport, Roads and Public Works, Patience Mercia Mokhali, 60, and the director of Babereki Consulting Engineers CC, Tshegolekae Motaung, 59 - in connection with the R51 million tender that was awarded for the construction of the Kimberley Mental Health Hospital.

The accused are facing several charges including fraud, corruption, money laundering, contravention of the Engineering Professions Act and contravention of the Public Finance Management Act.

Mokhali was released on bail of R10,000 while Motaung received bail of R50,000.

Block promised to attend all court dates, not to interfere with witnesses or evidence and not to endanger the safety of the public.

The State did not oppose bail and made an arrangement for Block to appear via an audio-visual recording from Upington Correctional Centre on August 10 as it will be for the purposes of a postponement.

Block is currently serving a 15-year sentence on charges of corruption and money laundering in relation to multimillion-rand leases that were concluded with the Trifecta group of companies for government offices in Kimberley, Upington, Kuruman, Springbok and Douglas during 2006-2008.