Former head of the KwaZulu-Natal department of agriculture and rural development, Dr Siphiwe Felix Mkhize, has been arrested by the Hawks for corruption.
Mkhize and a service provider, Erick Zondi, were arrested and appeared in the Durban magistrate’s court on charges of corruption on Thursday.
It was alleged that Ikhwezi Protection Services, represented by Zondi purchased a motor vehicle to the value of R541,800 from Kempster Ford Durban for Mkhize from November 2016 – January 2017.
“Mkhize was at the time the HOD of KZN agriculture and rural development. He was responsible for the extension and month-to-month payments for the said service provider at the time of the purchase of the motor vehicle,” Hawks spokesperson Capt Simphiwe Mhlongo said.
Mkhize who had been implicated in a R5m fraud in 2018 resigned after he was suspended from the department.
The accused briefly appeared in Durban magistrate’s court today and were released on bail. They are expected back in court on July 28.
