Magistrate Kubashnie Padayachee dismissed an application in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court to have the R51 million Kimberley mental hospital fraud, corruption and money laundering matter struck off the roll.
MAGISTRATE Kubashnie Padayachee yesterday dismissed an application in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court to have the R51 million Kimberley mental hospital fraud, corruption and money laundering matter struck off the roll.
The accused include former ANC provincial chairperson John Block, who served as the MEC for Transport, Roads and Public Works at the time when Babereki Consulting Engineers was awarded the tender in 2003.
His co-accused, the former HOD for Transport, Roads and Public Works, Patience Mokhali, and the director of Babereki Consulting Engineers CC, Tshegolekae Motaung, also appeared in court yesterday.
The defence believed that the matter was taking too long while the case dated back 21 years.
According to the State, it still needed photocopies of more than 5 000 plans where the service provider would need at least a month to complete the task.
The legal representative for Block, Lulama Lobi, indicated that “box 16“ containing evidence was outstanding.
The matter was postponed until April 5.
All the accused are out on bail.
