Pretoria – Arts and Culture Minister Paul Mashatile has welcomed the arrest of former National Youth Development Agency (NYDA) chairperson Andile Lungisa, and said together with his co-accused, he must face the music.
Mashatile lauded the Hawks for acting swiftly in arresting the accused.
Lungisa and three others - Thabo Shogole, Xolisile Guqaza and Ursula Sali – handed themselves over to the police and appeared before Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Friday to apply for bail.
According to Tweets from court, Lungisa and Shogole got R10 000 bail, while Guqaza got bail of R5 000. Sali was released with a warning, without having to pay bail.
The case will return to court on 30 October.
The four faced charges of fraud and money laundering after allegedly defrauding the Arts and Culture Department and misleading it into paying them R2.5 million for the Nelson Mandela Sports Day concert in August.
They allegedly lied to the department and promised that they would get award-winning R&B star R Kelly to perform at the Nelson Mandela event at the FNB stadium days after he concluded his “Single Ladies” tour in South Africa.
At the time, the department announced that it had entered into an agreement with the promoter of the singer’s tour to South Africa, but it emerged later that the singer’s management was not aware of the arrangement.
Mashatile said on Friday: “Corruption, fraud or any illegality will not be tolerated. Hence, I urge the law enforcement agencies to act decisively without fear, favour or prejudice against anyone who breaks the law.”
Mashatile and his department said they would be watching the case closely, and added that he would like to see all those implicated brought to book and public money recouped to send a clear message that there will be dire consequences for wrongdoing, regardless of the perpetrator’s status.
He called for the case to be finalised without delay.
Mashatile’s department collaborated with Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula in organising the event.
Sports ministry’s spokesperson Paena Galane said: “We are happy that law enforcement agencies are making progress on the case.
“We are very confident in our justice system and we just hope that the case could be concluded soon.” - SAnews.gov.za
