THE //Karas Regional Council chairperson, Jan Scholtz, and a council employee, Bernadus Waterboer, were arrested on charges of corruption and appeared in the Keetmanshoop Magistrate’s Court on Monday.
The duo, that made its third court appearance, was not asked to plead and the case was postponed for plea and trial to 21 and 22 August in the Keetmanshoop Regional Court.
At their first appearance, Scholtz and Waterboer were remanded out of custody on N$20 000 bail each.
Under the bail conditions, Scholtz and Waterboer are not to contact contractor Gerry Beukes, //Karas Regional Council chief regional officer Saul Kahuika, planning director Joseph Stephanus, liaison officer Adnan Boois, and regional constituency councillors Dawid Boois and Jims Chritsiaan.
In addition, the duo was also ordered to report once a week on Saturdays at Lüderitz and Keetmanshoop police stations respectively and to hand in thier travel documents to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) investigator. However, during their court appearance in January, Scholtz had his bail conditions amended, allowing him to travel abroad on official duties.
Scholtz and Waterboer were arrested by the ACC in mid-2013, following Prosecutor General Martha Imalwa’s decision to bring them before the court for allegedly contravening the Anti-Corruption Act.
Imalwa based her decision on an investigation into allegations that the duo had corruptly awarded paving tenders worth N$450 000 to a company owned by a close friend, Gerose Construction Close Corporation in 2011.
Scholtz is also accused of corruptly tabling and motivating a financial assistance request by Tommy’s Meat Products during a council meeting without disclosing that his stepson, only known as Bruce, owned the business.
