The decomposed body which is believed to be that of a City of Cape Town staffer, that was implicated in a fraud scandal, was discovered at Silvermine Nature Reserve by the SAPS on Tuesday, 4 June.
Alistair Stanbull, who went missing on 29 April, was involved in a R2.5 million fraud scandal, after he was arrested in November 2022, as reported by News24.
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‘The [police] members proceeded to the crime scene located in a nearby nature reserve. Upon their arrival at the scene, they found the decomposed body of an unknown man, dressed in grey pants, a T-shirt and black boots, in a stream next to the hiking trail,’ said warrant officer Joseph Swartbooi, Western Cape police spokesperson.
‘The victim was declared deceased on the scene by medical personnel. An autopsy will be conducted to confirm the cause of death,’ he added.
Kirstenhof police registered an inquest for further investigation and said they could not reveal the man’s identity, because of DNA testing that needed to be done.
However, sources close to the investigation confirmed the body was that of Stanbull.
Before his disappearance, Stanbull told his wife that he was going on a hike and left his premises in Steenberg. He never returned home and his vehicle was found on Ou Kaapse Weg.
At the time of his disappearance, police said that Stanbull was wearing a grey, long-sleeved T-shirt and khaki hiking pants.
During Stanbull’s court case, the State alleged that employees of a company, as well as the directors, supplied ‘false invoices to the City and allegedly misrepresented some of the work’ they had charged for as having been finalised.
Allegedly, Stanbull allowed the invoices to be authorised, despite knowing that the work had not been completed.
Some of the charges against Stanbull and his co-accused have been withdrawn in the meantime, and the case was moved to the Bellville Commercial Crimes Unit.
Carl Pophaim, MMC for human settlements, has confirmed that he was aware of the body that was found at Silvermine.
‘While suspicion is rife, I await a report from the SAPS forensics to confirm the identity. It is certainly my prayer that it is not a City official, and my thoughts and prayers are with the family of Mr Stanbull at this time,’ said Pophaim.
‘The safety and wellness of housing directorate officials is critical to me, and I am in discussions with my executive director on mechanisms we can utilise to accelerate interventions,’ he added.
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