TWO former South African State Theatre employees and their six co-accused will be appearing in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday, 27 February.
The eight were released on bail in December after they were arrested on 12 December 2023 following an investigation by the National Serious Corruption Investigation team.
They are facing charges of money laundering, fraud and theft.
The Hawks' Gauteng spokeswoman, Colonel Katlego Mogale said the two employees allegedly siphoned money for their own personal gain as they allegedly flouted the supply chain processes.
“The two employees allegedly utilised letter heads of existing companies to create invoices without the knowledge of the actual companies but changed the banking details to those belonging to the suspects' relatives, resulting in the total amount stolen of R24 million,” she said.
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Accused number one, Mokgadi Gertude Mooka (37) from Mahwelereng in Mokopane and accused number six, Patricia Sibongile Mabena (41) from Mamelodi in Tshwane were employees of the State Theatre.
According to the CEO of the theatre Sibongiseni Mkhize, accused number one worked as a credit controller in the finance department and was dismissed in 2020 after they had discovered that she had allegedly done the crime.
He said that accused number six resigned in 2019.
“We are putting our hope on justice that people will be made to account for what they did because they didn't steal from the State Theatre but from the people of South Africa. The money belongs to the taxpayers,” he said.
