Taxpayers paid R6m for convicted official’s legal fees
The state has paid more than R6m for the legal fees of the former head of the Northern Cape Department of Health, Dr Dion Theys, during his corruption trial.
The DA now says it emerged that the expenditure was not approved.
The DA’s Harold McGluwa called on the MEC for Health to urgently recoup the legal fees, Netwerk24 reports.
Theys was convicted in August 2023 of contraventions of the Public Finance Management Act for three irregular lease agreements.
His appeal was dismissed in December 2024.
Theys has since also been charged in two separate cases pertaining to corruption relating to the procurement of personal protective equipment.
Those cases have been removed from the roll, but the state indicated that the prosecution will proceed later.
Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi revealed in a parliamentary reply that another former head of department, Riaan Strydom, approved the expenditure on Theys’ legal fees.
The DA says the provincial legislature was supposed to approve the expenditure but never did.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
