Good Hope Construction boss acquitted of fraud

CONSTRUCTION businessman Ridwaan Rajah, owner of Good Hope Plasterers CC trading as Good Hope Construction, has been acquitted of fraud, theft, and perjury after a successful appeal in the Western Cape High Court.

- NICOLA DANIELS

The high court found that the regional court had erred in convicting him of offences the State failed to prove.

“Considering all the evidence rendered by the State witnesses, the First Appellant, and his brother, the concessions made by the State Prosecutor, and the misdirections and errors evident in the Regional Court's judgment, this court finds that the appeal should be upheld. It follows that the conviction on sentence must fall away,” Acting Judge Ajay Bhoopchand said in a ruling concurred by Judge Deidre Kusevitsky.

The matter emanates from a 2010 contract between Good Hope Construction and the Department of Public Works (DPW) to renovate buildings in the parliamentary precinct.

Goodhope Construction was required to appoint its subcontractors to discharge its obligations under the contract with the DPW. It appointed Winlite as a domestic contractor to construct four curtain screens on the parliamentary premises.

According to court papers, there was a delay in commencing the work largely due to the pace at which police clearance certificates were issued for the employees of the contractor and subcontractors. Winlite anticipated an increase in the price of the materials it intended to use to erect the screens and brought this to the notice of Goodhope Construction. After discussions with the DPW’s project manager and in an attempt to avert the price rise, the DPW agreed to an advance payment to cover the costs of materials that Winlite would use to construct the curtain screens. The materials would be held offsite on Winlite’s premises.