Seven Emfuleni municipality employees granted bail in multimillion-rand electricity fraud case - IOL
Seven accused granted bail over alleged illegal Emfuleni electricity reconnections.
Seven suspects accused of being linked to a multimillion-rand electricity fraud scheme involving the Emfuleni Local Municipality have been granted R20,000 bail each.
The seven appeared in the Vanderbijlpark Magistrates' Court, where the State opposed their release, but the court found that the accused's release was in the interests of justice.
The accused are David Seneekal, 31, Caroline Smangele Maduna, 39, Kenneth Zongezile Mahobe, 35, Hlawutelo Baloyi, 29, Pule Meshack Masilo, 36, Andries Bafana Maduna, 48, and Sibusiso Patrick Tshabalala, 46.
According to NPA regional spokesperson Lumka Mahanjana, the group faces charges including fraud, theft of electricity valued at approximately R9.9 million, a further fraud and theft charge involving R150,000, money laundering, and tampering with essential infrastructure.
The seven were arrested on August 21, 2026, following an investigation into illegal electricity reconnections in Emfuleni.
Mahanjana said according to the allegations, between February 2024 and June 2026, Emfuleni Local Municipality disconnected electricity supplies to businesses and residents whose municipal accounts were in arrears.
The accused allegedly approached some of the affected consumers and offered to reconnect their electricity in exchange for payment.
Mahanjana said after receiving payment, they allegedly reconnected the electricity supply and manipulated municipal records to make it appear that the outstanding balances on the affected accounts had been reduced.
However, in subsequent months, the affected consumers' municipal accounts allegedly reverted to the original outstanding amounts reflected before they were approached by the accused.
Despite the alleged reversal of the account balances, their electricity supplies allegedly remained connected through the illegal reconnections.
She saidΒ affected complainants subsequently reported the matter to the municipality.
Following an internal investigation, the municipality referred the matter to the South African Police Service for criminal investigation, which eventually led to the arrests of the seven accused.
Mahanjana said the accused must attend all court proceedings until the matter is finalised and reside at the addresses provided to the court.
They must also notify the investigating officer of any change of address and report twice a week at the Vanderbijlpark Police Station, every Monday and Friday between 06:00 and 18:00.
The accused have been prohibited from leaving South Africa and must surrender their passports to the investigating officer.
They are also prohibited from applying for new travel documents and from interfering with witnesses or the ongoing investigation.
The matter has been postponed to September 18, 2026, for the bail judgment of the eighth accused, 25-year-old Janitha Van Reenen Coetzee, who is alleged to be the mastermind behind the scheme.
