[imagesource: The South African]

64-year-old Nora Grose, a DA ward councillor in Cape Town, appeared in court yesterday on charges of fraud and money laundering.

Grose is accused of using Temporary Employee Relief Scheme (TERS) funds for personal gain, along with her co-accused, Reuben Swartz, the chairperson of an NGO called the SA Religious Civic Organisation.

Religion and politics, hey.

Grose was released on R10 000 bail, reports TimesLIVE:

She also allegedly colluded with Swart… to siphon relief funds from the City of Cape Town.

“The humanitarian funds valued at R170,000, meant for the distribution of food parcels in Atlantis, were reportedly funnelled to a church in Table View with links to some city officials,” the Hawks said.

Swartz was arrested in December and was expected to appear in the specialised commercial crimes court on Friday.

Grose is listed as the councilor for Ward 23, which includes Melkbosstrand, Big Bay, Blaauwbergstrand, and Table View.

As you can imagine, the ANC are suddenly very anti-corruption, with Fiona Abrahams, ANC caucus spokesperson, issuing a strongly-worded statement.

This from News24:

“We want answers urgently on the matter which we believe allegedly pertains to Covid-19 relief funds. We also want to know what steps have been taken to hold implicated parties to account. These relief funds were meant for the poor, and we are aggrieved by these allegations.”

Yes, Fiona, the South African public would love to know what steps are being taken to “hold implicated parties to account”.

The City of Cape Town said yesterday that it was working with authorities to recover unspent funds.

However, Mayor Dan Plato “vehemently denies” that the matter is criminal. Again, from News24:

“The City’s legal services department has been working with authorities for some time. They advise me that, based on the information available to the City, this is not a criminal matter and that records show the funds went toward the intended purpose of food relief.”

He said the allegations of malpractice by the councillor was investigated by the City’s speaker’s officer, which found no wrongdoing.

Plato says the party remains “fully committed to ensuring all financial transactions are carried out to the letter of the law”.

Grose will appear in court again on June 21.

[sources:timeslive&news24&news24]