Nelspruit – A Mpumalanga housing contractor has been sentenced to three years imprisonment for defrauding the provincial Local Government and Housing Department of R100 000.
Surprise Mphokane of Mamosuthu Construction, defrauded the department of R102 061 and has been sentenced to three years imprisonment suspended for five years

The department said that Mr Mphokane was appointed to build 25 Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) houses in the Thaba Chweu municipality but he “claimed for work that was not done”.

The contractor has been ordered by the court to repay the money he has defrauded the department.

Mr Mphokane is the first contractor to be convicted and sentenced for defrauding the department.

The department said it picked up discrepancies during their routine inspection and decided to investigate the matter.

They found that the contractor had claimed for payment on incomplete houses. This prompted the department to continue investigating other possible fraud cases where contractors are asked to do work and end up defrauding government.

All contractors who will be found to have defrauded the department will face the full might of the law and those service providers found to have defrauded the department will also be blacklisted by the department.

The department said it will not allow unscrupulous contractors to get away with theft and corruption.

No stone will be left unturned in making sure that corruption is eliminated from both its service providers and officials. - BuaNews