Businessman Gaston Savoi has been sentenced by the Pietermaritzburg High Court after pleading guilty to charges of fraud and corruption. Savoi's case involves inflated contracts for water purification and oxygen units provided to KwaZulu-Natal’s Health and Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs departments.
Savoi, associated with Intaka Holdings, which also managed projects in the Northern Cape, has been given an additional ten-year sentence, fully suspended for five years. The court also issued a confiscation order for R60 million.
KZN NPA spokesperson Natasha Kara stated that Savoi was ordered to pay R15 million as a contribution to the costs incurred during the curatorship in the Asset Forfeiture Restraint Application proceedings. The resolution came after a plea agreement was reached.
Kara explained that this plea and sentence agreement was part of the NPA’s strategy to conclude the lengthy case, which had faced delays due to numerous applications by the accused. Key to this resolution was Savoi’s agreement to cooperate and assist the State in ongoing proceedings against other government officials.
In 2022, Savoi’s co-accused, former KZN head of treasury Sipho Shabalala, was sentenced to an effective 15 years imprisonment for his role in the case, which included receiving over R1 million in kickbacks from Intaka Holdings.