Ramabulana is facing 12 charges.
Picture: iStock
The Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court has ordered the long‑delayed trial of Advocate Timothy Ramabulana to proceed.
The court on Wednesday ruled in favour of the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) after finding the accused responsible for “unreasonable delays.”
Ramabulana first appeared in court on 17 April 2024, but his case had been plagued by delays since.
Delays
Ramabulana is facing 12 charges, including the acquisition or use of proceeds of unlawful activities, fraud, contravention of the Legal Practice Act, and money laundering.
The charges relate to five money transfers amounting to approximately R57 000 that were allegedly made into his personal account between January 2020 and November 2021.
Money
Idac spokesperson Henry Mamothame said these funds were allegedly transferred from a company known as Isimbali Trading and Projects (Pty) Ltd.
“This company, which is linked to Kishene Chetty and Salamina Khoza, forms part of a criminal court matter, wherein the two and other officials from the South African Police Service (Saps) are facing corruption charges relating to a tender that was awarded irregularly to brand police vehicles.
“Ramabulana, in his capacity as an advocate, was not entitled to receive payments from Isimbali as he ought to have known that the funds formed part of the proceeds of unlawful activities,” Mamothame said.
Payments
Mamothame added that the payments were allegedly made to Ramabulana for representing some of the accused in the Saps matter.
“He allegedly also misrepresented that he was instructed by a firm of attorneys to represent the accused, thus contravening the Legal Practice Act, which further prohibits him from receiving a fee, commission or a reward without instructions from a law firm and without possession of a Fidelity Fund Certificate.”
Kishene Chetty
Last year, Chetty and his co-accused were dealt a significant blow after their application to consolidate several cases of fraud, forgery, money laundering, and other charges of dishonesty was struck off the roll with costs by the Gauteng High Court sitting in Pretoria.
The matter pertains to the procurement of toners for the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the Mpumalanga and Eastern Cape provinces between 2015 and 2016, resulting in a loss of more than R800 000 to the police.
Chetty and his co-accused are facing 456 charges, including racketeering, fraud, corruption, theft, forgery and money laundering.
