MEC for Human Settlements and Infrastructure Development, Lebogang Maile has commended the HAWKS Serious Corruption Division for the work done following the arrest of an unscrupulous individual who illegally sold a house to an unsuspecting desperate victim in 2018.
The Hawks apprehended a 41-year-old suspect in the early hours of Saturday, 22 October 2022 in Diepkloof, Soweto.
The arrest was confirmed by the member of Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) over the weekend, and this person was wanted for posing as an official of the Gauteng Department of Human Settlements and selling an RDP house in the Chief Mogale Housing Project. This matter was reported to the Department in 2018 and its Investigating Unit had been following the lead on the individual.
The suspect appeared today in Court K at Kagiso Magistrate Court. She was charged with fraud. She remains in custody pending a bail application.
The MEC said that “the Department learned in 2018 that a member of the public sold an RDP house in Chief Mogale Phase 2 Project in Kagiso to an unsuspecting buyer. An amount of R60 000 was transferred to the suspect’s bank account to complete what was about to be an illegal transaction and a nightmare for the unsuspecting buyer.
“The investigation confirmed that after the payment was made the buyer never got to occupy the said house and it was clear that the suspect is not the owner of the RDP house. The rightful owner of the house is known to the Department” said MEC Maile.
He further said that “after a criminal case was registered in July 2018, a thorough investigation was conducted, and numerous instructions were issued by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) to the Hawks to guide the investigation.
The suspect’s bank account was traced to Kimberly in Northern Cape and the Departmental Investigators were tracing the last known addresses of the suspect in Diepkloof, Soweto.”
MEC Maile condemned the suspect’s behaviour and issued a stern warning to other crooked individuals who illegally sell RDP houses and state-owned land that they will be dealt with according to the laws of the Country. He also thanked the Hawks for sending a strong message that no one is above the law and criminals can run but they cannot hide from the long arm of the law.
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