The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has successfully opposed an urgent High Court application by Mogalakwena Local Municipality manager Morris Maluleke to challenge a magistrate’s decision to keep him behind bars pending his formal bail application.
The NPA’s Limpopo regional spokesperson, Mashudu Malabi, said the Limpopo High Court sitting in Polokwane dismissed Maluleke’s application on Monday, 12 October 2026.
Maluleke, 43, approached the High Court seeking to overturn the Mokopane Magistrates’ Court’s decision to remand him in custody while awaiting his bail proceedings.
Senior State Advocates Martin Molokwane and Freddy Van Der Merwe, together with State Advocate Nkwana, opposed the application, arguing that his bail application should proceed in the Mokopane Magistrates’ Court as scheduled on Friday, 16 October.
Maluleke was arrested on 7 October and faces fraud, corruption and money laundering charges alongside his company, Bona Cord Vulstasie, in connection with a municipal fleet management contract.
The State alleges that Maluleke initially approved a fleet contract worth about R4 million before authorising payments totalling approximately R24 million, allegedly causing substantial financial losses to the municipality.
According to the prosecution, Maluleke irregularly awarded a R24 million fleet tender to Fleetmove (Pty) Ltd in December 2022 without following the prescribed supply chain management procedures.
The State further alleges that although payments began in January 2023, services were only provided between April and May that year, after the municipality’s legal division threatened to terminate the contract.
Investigators also allegedly uncovered payments totalling R230,000, which the State believes were kickbacks paid into an account linked to Maluleke through a company he solely directs in the fuel supply sector.
The criminal case was postponed to 16 October for a formal bail application, with Maluleke remaining behind bars.
Malabi said the NPA welcomed the High Court’s dismissal of the urgent application, saying it remained committed to prosecuting corruption and other serious economic crimes.
She said the alleged misuse of public resources undermined service delivery and eroded public confidence in state institutions.
Malabi said the NPA pledged to pursue accountability without fear, favour or prejudice wherever sufficient evidence exists to prosecute.
