Motaung, along with business partners Herbert Theledi and Chris Grip, were arrested by the Hawks last week in connection with fraud charges relating to the building of the 2010 World Cup stadium.

The Amakhosi chief is believed to have forged South African Revenues Services documents in order for his company, Lefika Emerging Equity, to obtain the contract to construct the R1.2billion venue.

Reports now claim provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Thulani Ntombela was handed intelligence reports implicating the trio in 2009, but that he did nothing about it.

"The intelligence guys looked stupid when their reports were ignored as they worked hard on the case and presented their reports to the commissioner. These arrests could have been done a long time ago," a senior police officer is quoted as saying in the City Press.

However, Mpumalanga police spokesperson Colonel Leonard Hlathi says Ntombela could not have been handed the documents, given the fact the case fell under the mandate of the Hawks.

He said: "The Mbombela case falls within the mandate of the Hawks, so there's no way (Ntombela) could have sat on reports."

Motaung and Theledi have since been released on R50,000 bail, while Grip was given a lesser bail amount of R20,000 after pleading poverty.

The case has since been postponed until October.