A Cape Town company director has been sentenced in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Bellville on charges of theft and perjury.
Ridwaan Rajah, 47, was convicted on the charges against him in April.
The Department of Public Works awarded a contract to Good Hope Plasterers CC, trading as Good Hope Construction to do internal and external renovations to the Parliamentary Precinct in Cape Town in 2010.
Rajah represented Good Hope Construction.
The Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Siyabulela Vukubi said after the work was certified to be completed, the Department of Public Works rejected his proposed final account amounting to R10.8 million.
“He instituted a notice of motion application in the Western Cape High Court against the Department of Public Works seeking an order to include the amount of over R500,000 in the final account.
“In his founding affidavit in support of the aforesaid application, the accused misrepresented and stated that the full amount of R500,000 was in respect of an advance payment made to the sub-contractor, namely Winlite Aluminium and Doors (Pty) Ltd.
“He deliberately put incorrect figures pertaining to the contract value of his sub-contractor in his founding affidavit. The order was granted and the Department of Public Works paid the said amount into the account of Good Hope Plasterers cc which belongs to Rajah, in order to adhere to the court order.
“It was later discovered that the accused did not pay the full amount over to the sub-contractor, which he never disclosed in the notice of motion proceedings, but withheld an amount of R51,903,” Vukubi said.
The Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team had been investigating the matter since 2019.
Rajah was subsequently sentenced to six years imprisonment for theft, wholly suspended for five years, 12 months imprisonment for perjury, wholly suspended for five years.
His company, Good Hope Plasterers CC was fined R200,000, wholly suspended for five years, for theft.
The suspension on the sentences are provided Rajah does not commit the same crimes during this period, meaning he will not serve any prison time and the company will not have to pay the fine.
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