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A former member of the mayoral committee for housing is due to appear in court today for the illegal sale of land owned by the City of Johannesburg.
This is according to a City of Joburg spokesperson, Siyanda Makhubo, who this morning said that the deputy secretary of the ANC’s Joburg region, Dan Bovu, was due to appear at the Commercial Crimes Court in Johannesburg today.
The case goes as far back as 2006, when a case was first opened against Bovu when he was a member of the Thembelihle Trust, said Makhubo, who is a media specialist for mayor Herman Mashaba’s office. Bovu is alleged to have sold a stand in Vlakfontein, south of Johannesburg, to a member of the public, after he was asked to pay money into the trust.
Along with an unnamed accomplice, Bovu allegedly sold the land to the buyer.
The first complainant reportedly paid R5000 initially, and was told he needed to pay another amount of between R2000 and R4000 into the trust account. After proceeding to build on the stand, a second complainant was also sold the same piece of land.
“Both Bovu and the accomplice handed themselves over to the Lenasia South Police Station this morning, and they are appearing today in court over the charges. At this stage we do not know the name of the accomplice,” Makhubo said.
“The case was reopened after the current administration was made aware of the case and a motion was tabled in September 2017 by the mayor to have the National Prosecuting Authority look at the case again,” Makhubo said.
“To the credit of the NPA, they have engaged with the call of our council and acted to ensure that Councillor Bovu has his day in court,” Mashaba said.
The delay in having Bovu and his accomplice charged led Mashaba’s administration to question why the former administration led by Parks Tau did not act on the allegations.
“I call upon the former mayor to explain to the residents of our city how this case could have been ignored for so long under his leadership. It is without a doubt that the ANC have been made aware of these allegations against Bovu for years and yet decided to sweep it under the carpet,” Mashaba said.
This morning, the ANC Joburg Region said that it had agreed to give Bovu “space” to deal with the matter.
“We are of the view that comrade Dan is innocent until proven guilty by a court of law. We are happy that this matter is now finally before the courts in order to clear the air surrounding his alleged involvement in fraudulent activity.”
A meeting will be convened by the regional executive committee to make a decision on the matter regarding Bovu, they said.
Bovu was previously accused by the Economic Freedom Fighters for offering its councillors R500 000 in exchange for votes in the Joburg city council election in 2016.
In August last year, the DA asked that Bovu be referred to the ethics committee for investigation, after DA councillor Suzanne Clarke motioned the proposal for his role in the illegal sale of land.
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