FORMER Athletics South Africa’s acting CEO has paid back the ill-gained funds from the National Lottery Commission (NLC) to the crime watchdog Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
On Thursday, 25 April, the SIU said it had received full payment from Terrence Magogodela.
The Special Investigating Unit (SIU) has received full payment from Magogodela, the funds he improperly gained from the NLC grant funding for a sports facility development.
SIU spokesman Kaizer Kganyago said Magogodela entered into a settlement agreement with them in June 2023.
“In terms of the agreement, Magogodela was to pay back R388 733,05. The amount includes interests, SIU legal costs, curator costs, and the amount that he was unduly enriched by.
“This follows the grant funding by NLC to a Non-Profit Organisation, Inqaba Yokulinda. Settlement agreements are part of the SIU’s strategy to recover funds lost by the State,” he said.
Kganyago said initially, a settlement agreement was reached but Magogodela failed to honour it. This prompted the SIU to approach the Special Tribunal for an application to preserve his Gauteng home.
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“In February 2022, the Special Tribunal granted the SIU a preservation order for Magogodela’s property."
Following the full payment made by him, the SIU will approach the Special Tribunal for an application to discharge his property from the preservation order.
“However, the settlement agreement doesn’t constitute a full and final settlement between the parties,” Kganyago said.
He said that they remain entitled to join him in any future proceeding and claim appropriate relief from him.
The SIU’s investigations into Magogodela found that he signed the NLC application form for funding to construct athletics tracks in the Northern Cape.
Kganyago said on the form that he indicated that he was the project coordinator for Inqaba Yokulinda, but he was neither the project coordinator nor a member of Inqaba Yokulinda.
“The funding application, the business and implementation plan, and an endorsement letter from ASA were submitted to the NLC. Mr Magogodela channelled the NLC funds towards a property in Gauteng.
“The settlement agreement doesn’t absolve Mr Magogodela from possible prosecution,” he said.
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