Ten people – including a former Northern Cape MEC – will appear before the Northern Cape High Court in April on fraud and corruption charges linked to the construction of Kimberley Mental Hospital, reports The Citizen.
The project, which began in 2005, spiralled from a R297m budget to more than R1bn, with various delays, poor workmanship, irregular procurement processes, and repeated contractor changes being cited as contributing factors to the escalating costs, until the price had swelled to more than R1bn – three times the original budget.
The case has been formally transferred from the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court to the Northern Cape High Court, with a pre-trial hearing scheduled for 23 April 2026.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), said the transfer was effected during a court appearance by the accused, including former MEC for Transport, Roads & Public Works John Fikile Block.
On charges
Those in the dock with Block include Patience Mercia Mokhali, Motlalepula Elias Selemela, and Ruth Palm, all former Heads of Department, as well as Babereki Consulting Engineers CC director Tshegolekae Motaung.
Four additional co-accused, Lourencia Crause, Louis Adriaan van Niekerk, Monyahi Winston Modisa, and Edward Charles Pullen Petzer, are former directors of Strabismis Trading and Babereki Consulting Engineers. These four were being prosecuted in both their personal and fiduciary capacities.
All of the accused remain on bail.
The NPA confirmed the financial prejudice to the state has since grown further, and “has increased significantly to more than R88m, resulting in additional corruption charges being brought against all accused”.
That escalation in financial harm has had direct consequences for the scope of the prosecution – which forms part of broader investigations into allegations of public corruption and the mismanagement of state funds.
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
16 years and R2.1bn later, Kimberley Mental Health Hospital remains barely used
New Kimberley hospital: 10 years late, sixfold over cost
Judge rejects bid to have hospital tender fraud case ‘struck off’