The sentencing of convicted fraudster Albert Sibusiso Tshabalala was postponed yet again in the Nelspruit Regional Court on October 9.

The matter was postponed to December 11 while Tshabalala’s lawyers await the application for leave to appeal a Mpumalanga Division of the High Court’s order directing the regional court to sentence him.

Tshabalala’s R5 000 bail was extended pending his next court appearance.

The state did not oppose the latest postponement.

Fraud scheme targets Bundu Lodge

Tshabalala was convicted of fraud totalling more than R150 000 five years ago.

The fraud was committed against the well-known Bundu Lodge located between Mbombela and White River on the R40, of which Tshabalala and his wife’s company, eBundu Pty Ltd, were to become significant interest holders of 66.7% about a year later.

ALSO READ: eBundu Lodge owner appeals fraud conviction

Local attorney and businessman the recently deceased Willem Janson held the remaining 33.3%.

It was Janson who reported Sibusiso’s fraud to the authorities, leading to his arrest together with his wife Ntombizodwa Tshabalala in July 2020.

Lowvelder previously reported on Sibosiso’s modus operandi. Invoices from the lodge’s accountants were edited and their banking details replaced by those of Cuma Investments, a company owned at the time by the Tshabalala couple. While both were charged, Ntombizodwa was found not guilty.

Case stalls more than 30 times

Despite the conviction, Sibusiso’s attorney Wilco du Toit maintains that his client is innocent. He has repeatedly attempted to prove as much, and sentencing has therefore been postponed more than 30 times as he tried various routes towards having the conviction overturned.

ALSO READ: Nelspruit Commercial Crimes Court postpones the case against Sibusiso Albert Tshabalala to next year

Reasons for the postponements include Sibusiso changing lawyers, as well as the recusal of a magistrate in 2021. The magistrate who convicted Sibusiso, Deon van Rooyen, reported having been approached by somebody he knew with a bribe of R10 000 to impose a non-custodial sentence, before recusing himself. Du Toit also cited lack of access to transcriptions as a reason for the postponements.

Another lengthy set of events followed when, after Van Rooyen’s recusal, allegations of bias were raised by Sibusiso’s legal representatives. Inconsistent versions were placed on record at different times – according to their December 2022 version of events, a post-conviction in-chambers interaction between a complainant and Van Rooyen had caused them concern. Yet in another version, Sibusiso said that the interaction preceded his conviction.

This second version sparked the time-consuming referral of the matter to the Mpumalanga High Court, where it was found that no grave injustice had occurred that would necessitate overturning the guilty verdict. Sibusiso took this on appeal to the high court and, when he failed, acquired leave to appeal from the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), which directed a full bench of the Mpumalanga High Court to reconsider whether the case should proceed to sentencing.

On August 11, the full bench agreed that sentencing was to proceed.

A month ago, Sibusiso approached the SCA again, this time for leave to appeal the August decision. At the time of publication, Du Toit indicated that the SCA had not yet confirmed whether he would be allowed to do so.

‘Justice delayed is justice denied,’ says widow

Janson’s widow, Enesta, attended court on October 9 – a mere week after her husband’s funeral. She was shocked that the matter continued to drag. “Justice delayed is justice denied,” she said.

Du Toit also said that the matter should be concluded as soon as possible, stressing that his client wants to ‘clarify whether the proceedings up to him being convicted were in accordance with justice’.