US$52k extortion: Bulawayo councillors remanded in custody

Peter Matika, [email protected]

TWO more Bulawayo City councillors accused of attempting to extort US$52 000 from a local businessman were yesterday remanded in custody to September 10, when they will return to court alongside three others already facing the same allegations.

Ward 3 Councillor Mxolisi Mahlangu and Ward 15 Councillor Ashton Mhlanga appeared before Bulawayo magistrate Mr Themba Chimiso yesterday, two days after they handed themselves over to the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) and were arrested and charged.

The duo had challenged the State’s application to place them on remand, with their lawyers, Mr Nqobani Sithole and Mr Kholwani Ngwenya, arguing against their continued detention.

However, Mr Chimiso dismissed the application, saying he was satisfied with the State’s opposition to the bid to remand the councillors.

The magistrate said although the grounds advanced by the defence held water, they were not sufficient to deter the State from its arguments in favour of placing the two on remand.

The ruling means the two councillors will return to court on September 10, when they are expected to appear together with Deputy Mayor Councillor Edwin Ndlovu, Ward 28 Councillor Ntandoyenkosi Ndlovu and former Ward 22 Councillor Alderman Rodney Jele, who are already before the courts facing the same allegations.

The latest development effectively brings all five accused persons into one court process. The State alleges that the accused persons connived to extort US$52 000 from a local businessman in connection with a 50-year lease granted by the Bulawayo City Council for a proposed hotel development.

According to State papers, the lease was awarded in March 2023 to Mkhuze Global Investments, a company owned by the complainant, for the development of the hotel.

The State alleges that in August this year, the accused persons approached the businessman and told him that other businesspeople were interested in the stand and were prepared to pay US$52 000 to have his lease cancelled.

The businessman was allegedly told to match the US$52 000 if he wanted to retain the lease. The allegations subsequently prompted the businessman to approach Zacc, which mounted an undercover operation.

The trap operation allegedly culminated in former councillor Jele being arrested after the complainant handed over US$5 000 as part of the demanded amount.

Jele was allegedly arrested while counting the money at the complainant’s house. The State has previously told the court that it has witness statements, communications between the accused persons and the complainant, as well as evidence relating to the money allegedly handed over during the operation.

earlier remand proceedings, the defence challenged the State’s case, arguing that the allegations did not sufficiently disclose the essential elements of extortion or establish a clear nexus between some of the accused persons and the alleged offence.

Mr Ngwenya had previously argued that the State was relying heavily on common purpose without placing sufficient evidence before the court to link individual accused persons to the alleged offence.

The State, however, maintained that there was sufficient evidence linking the accused persons to the alleged scheme.

The case has already seen dramatic developments, with Deputy Mayor Ndlovu and Councillor Ntandoyenkosi Ndlovu abandoning their bail application earlier this week, leaving Alderman Jele to pursue his own bid for freedom.

Jele’s bail application was dismissed on Tuesday and another magistrate remanded him in custody until September 10.

The allegations have also drawn attention to the management of municipal land and long-term development leases in Bulawayo, particularly amid concerns over stalled investment projects and the need for greater transparency in the administration of council assets.

For Deputy Mayor Ndlovu, the latest case comes barely a year after he was acquitted of separate corruption allegations involving an alleged US$20 000 bribe linked to a proposed cement-mixing plant in Bulawayo.