By OBAKENG MAJE
28 March 2025- In keeping with the Hawks’ motto of “Seek, Find and Strike”, Kimberley Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team made a series of arrest on 27 March 2025. The first arrest took place in Victoria West.
The Hawks spokesperson in Northern Cape, Lieutenant Colonel Tebogo Thebe said the team arrested Randile Jacobs Shuping (38), who is accused of withholding third party payments, while serving as a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Thembelihle Local Municipality. Thebe said the alleged contravention took place between February 2021 and July 2023.
“One of those third parties is Consolidated Retirement Pension Fund (CFR). The action left Thembelihle Local Municipality with a debt of over R6 million in pension fund contributions for employees, thereby contravening Section 13A of the Pension Fund Act 24 of 1956, with 1800 counts of the said contravention.
“Shuping was taken to Hopetown Magistrate’s Court immediately after his arrest, where he was granted a R5000 bail. The matter was postponed until 25 April 2025. The second arrest with municipal focus took place in Hartswater,” he said.
Thebe further said the team arrested two Phokwane Local Municipality cashiers for fraud, alternative theft and money laundering. He added that, Thato Morake (34) and Ayanda Ndwanya (35), are accused of defrauding the municipality between January 2022 and August 2023.
“Auditing undertaken by the municipality, revealed that the duo captured municipal payments as direct deposits in the internal financial ledgers while they do not reflect in the bank statements.
“It appears that the suspects were pocketing cash payments for personal use and reflecting them as directs deposits. The municipality suffered a total loss of over R3 million,” said Thebe.
Meanwhile, the Provincial Head of the Hawks in Northern Cape, Major General Stephen Mabuela, expressed his appreciation to the investigation teams for proper investigation and placing the dockets before court. Mabuela said the plan is to intensify the arrests and place most of the matters before courts and generally being concluded.
The Guardian 