Jonkers’ fails to get fraud case dismissed
THE FRAUD trial of Steven Jonkers will continue in December after the legal defence for the HOD for the Department of Transport, Safety and Liaison and his co-accused failed to convince the court to have the charges against them dismissed in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
Jonkers is facing a number of charges relating to alleged irregularities with regards to the tender process for the awarding of bus contracts in the Northern Cape’s Springbok region.
On Friday, the defence questioned the strength of the State’s case against Jonkers and the CEO of Umfana Bus Services, Clarissa Carstens, who is alleged to have made cash payments to the HOD in order to procure a five-year government subsidy to the value of over R10 million, without any tendering process being followed.
The accused’s legal representative maintained that in order for Jonkers to be found guilty, the court would need to deem the National Land Transport Act unconstitutional and that the issuing of the subsidies had been in line with the Public Management Finance Act.
The defence further wanted to know why Jonkers was only implicated in tender irregularities relating to three service providers when five bus companies were subsidised; as well as why Jonkers was the only HOD in the country facing charges when the R30 million subsidy was handled in the same manner in all nine provinces.
Carstens further denies having ever made the alleged payments of R60 000 and R200 000 to Jonkers in 2011.
However, the State said that Megabus and Phumatra had not been implicated along with Rainbow, Van Wyk and Carstens’ bus services as there was no evidence that these companies had committed any offences, adding that both had been contracted prior to Jonkers’ instalment as HOD.
The prosecution also claimed to have a strong enough case against the accused.
Magistrate Phinelile Sityatya postponed the trial until December after denying the defence’s attempts to have the charges dismissed.
“The court’s reasons for rejecting the application (to dismiss) will be supplied with the final verdict.”