The stylish SUV is highly celebrated for its exceptional reliability and rugged terrain capability and it is the sort of a vehicle that can glide through Gaborone traffic in the morning, and by afternoon it can disappear down a dusty road. It moves with flawless elegance from the elegant plazas of the capital's government enclave, but sometimes its true soul awakens where the tar road fades, and the pale dust of the Kalahari begins. A Toyota Fortuner is a vehicle associated with comfort and status, and it is a machine that, at a price tag of over half a million pula, it is beyond the reach of many ordinary folks.
But, one particular Fortuner with a registration number B 715 BSW has taken an extraordinary journey and is valued at P575, 0000. This Fortuner has driven into the heart of a corruption case involving Member of Parliament for Ghanzi Noah Salakae, a P1.535 billion government road contract and allegations of a web of benefits allegedly flowing from a construction company to the former minister. Salakae, who is the 5th accused person in the matter, and six others are set to appear in court next Friday, and their charge sheet gives the Fortuner a much bigger role than merely being an expensive vehicle allegedly received by a public official. According to count two of the charges, the MP is accused of corruptly using his position as Minister of Transport and Infrastructure to obtain valuable consideration for himself from Tau Grading and Building Construction (Pty) Ltd. The State alleges that the consideration included P1.6 million, the Toyota Fortuner 2.8 valued at P575, 000 and the provision of bush-clearing services.
