Charges dropped against one of three alleged water thieves at Waterfall City

Yvette Scheepers‚ Faisel Abrahams and Irving Steyn appeared in the Johannesburg Commercial Crimes Court on Thursday on charges of corruption and fraud.

The prosecution withdrew charges against Scheepers without giving reasons. The case against Steyn and Abrahams was postponed to November 29 for further investigation. “It’s going to be a long and complicated investigation‚ hence the long postponement‚” prosecutor Richard Chabalala told the court.

The defence welcomed the postponement but cautioned the state against further delays.

Speaking to the media outside court‚ Scheepers’s lawyer Kuvashen Padayachee said his client had resigned from Waterfall Management Company‚ where she was responsible for accounts.

“Scheepers has resigned from Waterfall Management Company as she did not believe that she would get a fair hearing since the company refused to respond to a request made by our client for further particulars the company intended to use at the hearing with documents which our clients considered necessary for purposes of holding a fair hearing.”

He said the company had made Scheepers a scapegoat in the case.

“The decision by the state to withdraw charges against our client indeed speaks volumes‚” Padayachee said.

Scheepers‚ Steyn and Abrahams‚ a City of Johannesburg employee‚ were arrested during an investigation into how Waterfall City and other entities in Midrand’s Waterfall area procure water‚ and if they pay for it.

Business Day reported in May that the City of Johannesburg had said it had obtained R8.2-million from the Waterfall Management Company‚ which owns Waterfall Estate‚ saying the company collected water for free from illegally installed meters.