FREE STATE – Sabata James Ramalitse (59) and Rathebe Samson Raboteng (42), have been sentenced for posing as government officials who offered fake Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) building contracts to developers in the Eastern Free State twelve years ago.
The Hawks’ Serious Commercial Crime Investigation revealed that during the period from 01 September 2008, until 30 July 2010, the pair pretended to be government officials. They then approached developers and offered them RDP building contracts to erect houses in Harrismith, Phuthaditjhaba, Kestell and Bethlehem areas after they convinced them to pay a cash admin fee in order to qualify.
It was later realized that these contracts never existed, which resulted in the developers losing over R500 000. The pair were arrested on 27 July 2010, and consequently made several appearances in the Harrismith Magistrate’s Court resulting in their conviction on four counts of fraud in March 2019. The court has on Monday sentenced Ramalitse to 14 years imprisonment whilst Raboteng received 8 years imprisonment.