The East London-based Hawks squad arrested Lukhanyo Cornelius Fesi on charges of tender fraud.
Fesi, 44, worked as the Department of Rural Development and Agrarian Reform’s Financial Management Assistant Director.
He was reportedly requested in 2012 to write an internal memorandum for the procurement of promotional material in advance of a presidential visit to Mbizana.
Fesi is also said to have contacted a supplier and requested for quotes on the bags. After inspecting the bag samples, he informed the supplier that the bags would be more appropriate for his church.
The department issued an order when the supplier provided a quotation in response to Fesi’s inquiry. Unbeknownst to them, Fesi had already reportedly supplied the supplier his church’s emblem as the writing on the bags.
According to sources, Fesi subsequently asked the supplier to bring 300 bags worth R27 000 to his residence, which the supplier allegedly fulfilled.
The department then paid for the bags, and Fesi reportedly requested R3 000 from the supplier throughout the process.
The department only found afterwards that the desired advertising materials were never issued. The payment had already been paid to the supplier at that point, and a case of fraud had been reported to the Hawks in 2016.
On the same day, Fesi appeared briefly in the Zwelitsha Magistrate’s Court and was freed on R2 000 bail.
As the case is ready for trial, it was adjourned until February 27, 2023 for legal representation.
»East London Hawks arrest Lukhanyo Cornelius Fesi for tender fraud«