The extortion case against a municipal employee suspended by Makana Municipality has been postponed until February next year.
The extortion case against a municipal employee suspended by Makana Municipality has been postponed until February next year.
The employee, who worked in the town planning department, allegedly tried to extort money from a citizen who had applied to purchase land in Makana.
The case was opened with the Grahamstown police on 9 November 2012. Grocott's Mail learned from a reliable source that the man who opened the case had applied to purchase land in 2007, but heard nothing about the matter until he made a follow-up visit to the municipality.
He had gone to the municipality on 15 October last year to enquire about his application, the source said. There he met an employee in town planning.
According to the source, the employee asked the would-be landowner for a loan of R20 000. This, the employee allegedly said, would ensure that his application was successful.
Captain Mali Govender said the case had been handed over to the East London Organised Crime Unit (the Hawks) for further investigation.
National Hawks spokesperson Captain Paul Ramaloko confirmed that the organisation had taken over the investigation. He explained that cases of this nature fall under their jurisdiction.
Witnesses in court this week were excused and the case was postponed to 25 February in the employee's absence, because both she and her lawyer could not be in court on Wednesday.
