Deeds Office suspends officials over property transfer fraud
Two senior officials at the Deeds Office in Pretoria are believed to have been suspended.
The office has been in the spotlight over the irregular and fraudulent transfer of 33 properties owned by the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) and alleged fraudulent transfer of about 30 more properties owned by the Tshwane Metro and the North West Housing Corporation (NWHC).
Pogiso Mesefo, the registrar of the Deeds Office in Pretoria, and Edwin Maphosa, an assistant registrar, were apparently suspended on Monday and their duties taken over by Abel van der Westhuizen, a deputy registrar, and Richard Lebelo, a senior official.
All the fraudulent JPC transfers were facilitated by Edmund Sibisi, the acting deputy registrar.
Mesefo yesterday declined to confirm or deny whether he had been suspended.
Mesefo and Sam Lefafa, the chief registrar of deeds, both stressed they had been given strict instructions not to speak to the media.
Rural Development and Land Reform spokesman Eddie Mohoebi failed to respond to requests for comment.
The Hawks, the elite police crime fighting unit, previously confirmed it was investigating the irregular and fraudulent transfer of state-owned properties to private companies by the Deeds Office in Pretoria.
Hawks spokesman Musa Zondi said this week its investigations were continuing but he was not prepared to comment further at this stage.
The JPC has obtained a high court interdict to prevent further trading in the 33 properties and also launched a civil court application to transfer ownership of these properties back to the company.
The alleged irregular and fraudulent transfer of properties owned by the Tshwane Metro and NWHC were highlighted in the minutes of a meeting on June 1 that was chaired by Lefafa and attended by representatives from the Tshwane Metro and NWHC.
The minutes state that Lefafa informed the meeting that "the City of Tshwane and the Deeds Office (are) currently under siege with all the fraudulent transfers of municipal-owned properties despite caveats and/or pre-emptive conditions being noted against such properties".
A City of Tshwane representative told the meeting a total of 27 vacant stands in Lotus Gardens in Pretoria had been transferred fraudulently. Lefafa believed "extra precautionary measures" must be put in place to prevent or curb "such illegal transactions" and recommended the Hawks be requested to investigate the fraudulent transfer of all municipal properties.
Two reports about the transfers were submitted to Lefafa last month, who tasked Mesefo with investigating the suspect transfers. Mesefo submitted one report and another was compiled by Allen West, the chief of deeds training.
It is unclear why they did not submit a joint report.
West's report was particularly damning of Sibisi's role in the transfer of the properties.
Mesefo's report took a softer line although its stated purpose was "to request (a) human resources management component to institute an investigation against the alleged acts of misconduct committed by Mr Sibisi".
Mohoebi said last month the department was only in possession of preliminary investigation reports, which would inform the internal investigation.
He stressed the department upheld clean governance and a corruption-free administration.
Business Report
Posted at 09:11AM Jul 15, 2010 by Editor in Industry |