On 19 November 2021, the Gqeberha Regional Court convicted a former project manager in the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, Mzoli Phakade (51) of fraud.
Between February and December 2006, Phakade assisted a now deceased man to defraud the department of more than R2.6 million.
The deceased approached the department as a representative of the CPAD Farm Holdings Trust with 38 members, to apply for financial assistance to purchase the farm Honeyville in Humansdorp through the Land Reform and Development Programme.
The funds were approved and Phakade falsified documents and registered the farm onto the entity’s name where the deceased was the sole director not the Trust.
The 38 supposed applicants were not aware of the process. The incident was reported to the Gqeberha based Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team.
After the investigation was completed, the accused was arrested. He will return to court on 29 November 2021 for sentencing.
