Football administrator, wife expected in court to face fraud charges

Soccer administrator and international referee Andile “Ace” Ncobo and his wife are set to appear in court in Cape Town to face charges of fraud and money laundering related to millions of rand worth of school construction projects in the Eastern Cape.

TimesLIVE Premium has reliably learnt that Ncobo will appear in the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court alongside his wife Salome Twaise Ncobo to face three counts of fraud and money laundering related to R15.2m meant for the projects being distributed to accounts under their control.

A member of law enforcement with direct knowledge of the investigation confirmed the two will be charged in connection with alleged misuse of corporate social investment (CSI) projects from the Petroleum Oil and Gas Corporation of South Africa (PetroSA) in favour of themselves, their family members and entities in which they had vested interests.

One of the projects is the R13m upgrade and refurbishment of Gangatha Junior Secondary School in Ncobo’s hometown of Willowvale in 2008, where subsequent assessments by quantity surveyors on behalf of PetroSA found that about R5.9m was spent and the rest was diverted to other entities and trusts under Ncobo’s control.

Investigations also found the King Gangatha’s Building Trust, which Ncobo allegedly used for the application, was not registered and its trustees denied being trustees and disputed signatures that were said to be theirs.    

The charges relate to a more than 10-year-old investigation by the Hawks after PetroSA opened a case with them. The case was opened after an internal PetroSA investigation, sparked by concerns about whether it had received value for money, that led to the dismissal of two employees in its CSI section.

At the time of the investigation, Ncobo claimed to have employed about 250 people from the local community to work on the Gangatha project, and that the structures and facilities that were built went way beyond what the contract stipulated. He also questioned why the value of the work done was being disputed nearly three years after completion.

Twaise Ncobo’s charges allegedly relate to another project, the Nqadu preschool, that was also funded by PetroSA with her as the contact person.

Ncobo, a former chief executive of the Premier Soccer League, resigned in 2009 after making allegations of corruption within the league.

Asked to confirm whether he and his wife have been summoned to appear, Ncobo said he had not received anything “to that effect”.

“I have no information on this,” he said.