An Eskom employee, Nontuthubo Surprise Mahweliri, along with three alleged accomplices, recently appeared before the Hendrina Magistrate’s Court.
They are facing charges of fraud, theft, and money laundering. Mahweliri, who works as a maintenance manager at the struggling power utility, is accused of misrepresenting to Eskom that she was not conducting any business with the company.
However, during the investigation, it was discovered that she was a shareholder in two companies, NKG Trading Investments (PTY) Limited and Dithari Funding (PTY) Limited, both of which were conducting business with Eskom.
The Hawks, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, arrested the accused based on information received by the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) in August 2022.
The investigation revealed that Eskom suffered an actual loss of R1,082,884 as a result of the fraudulent activities. The case was referred to the Hawks, who obtained witness statements linking the accused individuals and entities to the crime.
After analysing the case docket, the public prosecutor found sufficient evidence to issue a warrant of arrest against the four accused. The warrant was executed, and the suspects appeared in court on February 7.
Each of them was granted R50,000 bail, and the case was postponed to February 19 at the Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crime Court.
