ANC leader in court for land fraud
Bovu ‘sold stand to two people’
A senior ANC Gauteng leader is likely to appear before the party’s integrity commission for possibly bringing the party into disrepute.
The ANC Johannesburg region is considering hauling its deputy secretary and City of Johannesburg councillor Dan Bovu before the commission for allegedly being involved in the illegal sale of a stand belonging to the City of Johannesburg in Vlakfontein, south of Johannesburg.
Bovu and Isaac Mhlongo – who is also an ANC member – are facing corruption and fraud charges.
They appeared at the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Johannesburg yesterday. The pair were granted R5 000 bail each and are due in court next month.
ANC Johannesburg region spokesman Jolidee Matongo said the party would not hesitate to take action against Bovu.
“We want to emphasise that should he be found guilty of the charges laid against him, we would not hesitate to act in line with the disciplinary code of the ANC,” Matongo said.
Bovu was a member of the Thembelihle Development Trust, set up to assist people buying stands in the area.
Mhlongo allegedly told the first complainant in the matter to pay a deposit of R5 000 into a trust bank account.
The complainant allegedly paid the amount into a bank account and started building a house.
The building was allegedly stopped by Bovu who told him to pay another R4 000 into the same trust account. The complainant only paid R2 000 into the trust account.
The complainant allegedly spent R200 000 building his house on the stand.
A second complainant contacted Bovu about a stand in Vlakfontein and was allegedly told one was available for R4 000. He was allegedly told by Bovu to pay R4 000 into the trust account. The complainant was allegedly instructed to use a plan that cost him a further R4 900.
Bovu then allegedly demanded an extra R1000 for registering the stand with the City of Johannesburg. It was only when the two complainants met that they discovered they had bought the same stand from Bovu.
City of Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba called on ANC leaders to show leadership and walk the talk by taking firm action against Bovu.