Former Human Settlement Director for Property Management in Mpumalanga, Peter Nyoni is expected to take the witness stand in the R74-million fraud and corruption trial against former State Security Minister, Bongani Bongo and 14 others.
The trial is underway at the Nelspruit Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Mbombela.
The accused are alleged to have inflated prices when the Naauwpoort and Rietspruit farms were purchased in 2011 to benefit themselves.
The department paid a hefty R74 million for both farms. At the time Bongo was the director of Legal Services for the Human Settlement Department.
On Thursday, defence lawyers for the accused wrapped up the cross-examination of the first state witness.
Human Settlements Director for Supply Chain Management, Thabo Mashile, was in the witness dock this week. He told the court that the department followed proper procedures when purchasing the two farms as no irregularities were found.
He further explained that their books were also audited by the Auditor-General and there were no adverse findings against the department.
He said the department saved money when purchasing the piece of land in Emalahleni.
“We had negotiated to R37.5 milion to include everything. So, they agreed and were given a price and we negotiated. The representative of the seller agreed to go down in terms of the price and we went back to report on what happened. So, far as I’m concerned, I did follow the processes to the letter as expected of me. The AG audited all purchases of portions including the two land and in terms of response from the AG, (we) have no adverse findings.”
