KEETMANSHOOP – The corruption case involving the chairperson of the //Kharas Regional Council Jan Scholtz and his co-accused Barnatus Waterboer has been postponed.
The regional magistrate Sunsley Zisengwe after listening to the arguments decided to postpone the case to July 9 and 10, 2015 for plea and trial.
Scholtz who is also the constituency councillor of !Nami#nus, and co-accused Waterboer, a control officer at the council face charges of corruption for allegedly awarding tenders of over N$500 000 in 2011 for paving the governor’s and the !Nami#nus constituency offices to a company by the name of Gerose Construction cc, which is allegedly owned by their close friend.
Scholtz also faces corruption charges for allegedly tabling and motivating financial assistance requested by a company known as Tommy’s Meat Products owned by his stepson without revealing that his son was the owner of the company The decision to move the trial to another date came after the state prosecutor Pieter Smit requested the case be postponed, citing absenteeism of the witnesses and investigator, a move which the legal representative of the two accused, Garth Joseph, disagreed with arguing that the case continue despite their absence. Joseph argued that the postponement not be granted as it would prejudice Scholtz and hinder the possibility of him being reelected as chairperson of the council, adding that the court case has made him to “be seen negatively” by the community.
He also argued that postponing the case would not be suitable for Waterboer as he did not have the capacity to fund his legal representative as the amount allocated by him had been exhausted already, adding there was no evidence the witnesses were contacted by the investigating officer.Magistrate Zisengwe however before postponing the case reminded Joseph that his client Scholtz has no reason why he can’t be appointed to any public office because of the ongoing case and urged Waterboer to apply for legal aid should he feel he can no longer pay for such services.
Scholtz and Waterboer were arrested in mid-December 2013 following Prosecutor-General Martha Imalwa’s decision to arraign them before court for contravening the ACC Act.