The names of Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi and senior officials of the Free State Health Department have been drawn into a trial about the murder of a private hospital director in Bloemfontein, according to a Volksblad report.
Louis Siemens, director of the CityMed Hospital, was murdered on 10 May in the basement of a shopping centre. The state alleges that the man accused of being the mastermind of the hit, Stanley Bakili (37), received several bribes from Siemens in connection with arranging hospital licences. An accomplice, Xolisile Mbebetho (39), earlier pleaded guilty to the murder charge in a plea bargain.
The report says two policemen, the commander of the Bayswater police station in Bloemfontein and a court orderly from the Bloemfontein Magistrate’s Court, have since been arrested on a range of charges relating to the case, including perjury and the manipulation of evidence.
The report says during a bail application last week, documents were provisionally admitted by the court detailing bribes allegedly paid to people with influence. It was apparently drafted by Siemens before his death with the instruction that it should be handed to the police if something happened to him.
Motsoaledi’s name appears next to a payment of R154,000 last year, Free State departmental head David Motau's name is alongside a figure of R150,000, and Advocate Justice Finger, the provincial department's former legal adviser, has R400,000 next to his name.
Motau and Finger feature on the state’s list of witnesses against Bakili.
The bail applications continue, the report says.
[link url="https://www.netwerk24.com/Nuus/Hof/hoes-se-name-genoem-in-hofstukke-oor-siemens-moord-20181123"]Volksblad report (subscription needed)[/link]