City manager goes undercover in sting
Amid ongoing investigations into tender fraud, City of Cape Town manager Lungelo Mbandazayo has led a sting operation that exposed a R1.4m bribery attempt, according to the Cape Argus.
The operation, conducted on Tuesday, has led to the arrest of a key suspect while reinforcing the city’s commitment to zero tolerance against corruption.
The suspect is expected to make his first appearance at the Cape Town Magistrate's Court today. Police revealed that the investigation was sparked by a whistle-blower’s disclosures about collusion between municipal employees and service providers, which undermined the integrity of public contracts.
The City of Cape Town’s Ethics & Forensic Services, in collaboration with the SAPS’ Commercial Crimes Investigation (CCI) Unit, started a probe to root out corruption within the municipality.
On the day of the sting at Waterstone Village in Somerset West, Mbandazayo acted as an agent of the operation and confronted the suspect, who handed over R1.4m in cash.
The CCI officers seized the cash, a mobile device and a Toyota bakkie.
The 51-year-old suspect was arrested and will face corruption charges.
This followed a Section 252A operation on February 26 at the Table Bay Mall, Sunningdale, where the company director attempted to bribe the city manager with R4m and committed to an initial R2m in cash.
The latest arrest is the culmination of a joint investigation which began in March last year following a whistle-blower’s tip-off.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said more arrests are on the cards.
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.
