The eventual sentencing of former Karoo Hoogland municipal manager, Louis Nothnagel, who was last year found guilty on multiple charges of fraud and theft in contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA), must send out a strong warning to government officials and kickstart further successful prosecutions within the municipality.
Nothnagel was arrested in 2013, alongside a former Chief Financial Officer (CFO), who has since passed away. Nothnagel was last week sentenced to four years direct imprisonment and ordered to pay back R500 000 to the state. The wife of the deceased CFO, Arina Botha, who was previously found guilty on multiple charges of theft and money laundering, was also sentenced to five years direct imprisonment and ordered to pay back R200 000 to the state.
While it may have taken more than a decade, the DA welcomes that the wheel of justice is finally turning in the Karoo Hoogland municipality.
Too much money has been lost to corruption while residents suffer without adequate service delivery and this must stop. All public money must be spent on the people whom local government is meant to serve and all government officials must know that the law will catch up with them.
The DA will continue to monitor other potential cases in Karoo Hoogland, in relation to irregular appointments and payments where human resource and supply chain system processes were bypassed. We hope that the Hawks raid on the municipal offices and confiscation of equipment, in July last year, was not in vain and will run its full course, culminating in further successful prosecutions, so that we can establish an accountable, transparent and clean government in Karoo Hoogland.