By Tamlyn Canham
A Gqeberha senior official who scammed the government out of just over R2.6 million is due to be sentenced later this month.
Mzoli Phakade was found guilty of fraud in the Port Elizabeth Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Monday.
The court found the second accused in the case, Mongezi Alfred Mde, unfit to stand trial. A separation of trials was requested. Mde has since passed away.
Phakade was a senior planner and project officer for the Eastern Cape Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development.
Mde was the Director of CPAD Farm Holdings Pty Ltd, a property development company.
NPA spokesperson Anelisa Ngcakani says Mde was interested in buying a farm in Humansdorp. The farm was valued at around R7.7m.
“In 2006 Mde submitted an application for [an] Land Redistribution and Agricultural Development (LRAD) grant in order to purchase Farm Honeyville. The project name was CPAD Farm Holdings Trust, a name similar to that of his company. The Department of Agriculture assigned Phakade to administer Mde’s application,” Ngcakani says.
Mde allegedly submitted his application together with 38 other beneficiaries who were co-applicants for an LRAD grant. The 38 beneficiaries were also descendants of the Mde clan.
“In truth, the 38 beneficiaries did not apply for the grant and were not aware of the existence of the CPAD Farm Holdings Trust. The applications were therefore fraudulent. Phakade certified most of the copies of the identity documents of the beneficiaries attached to the fraudulent applications. He did so without verifying them with the beneficiaries,” the NPA says.
The Department of Agriculture approved the grant on condition that the farmland with all its fixtures and assets would be owned by the CPAD Farm Holdings Trust. The department paid out an LRAD grant of just over R2.6 million.
Phakade later submitted documents to his supervisor, which stated that the farm project should be transferred to the name of CPAD Farm Holding Pty Ltd. His supervisor, however, refused to sign the documents because of the requirement.
“Phakade’s request was unlawful. The supervisor knew that Mde was the sole director of CPAD Farm Holdings Pty Ltd and that none of the other 38 beneficiaries formed part of the company,” the NPA says.
Phakade went ahead and instructed a conveyancing attorney firm in Humansdorp to transfer the farm into the name of CPAD Farm Holdings Pty Ltd.
The following day he submitted a fraudulent letter to the Registrar of Deeds indicating that the transfer should be expedited.
Phakade was arrested by the Hawks. The case was postponed to 29 November 2021 for sentencing.
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