The court case against Kgotso Khumalo, the former Executive Mayor of J.B. Marks Local Municipality, Mohau Shuping and Cyril Hendry was postponed until  14 September, 2023.

The trial was postponed by the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting at the Klerksdorp Regional Court. Khumalo, Shuping, and Hendry are facing eight charges of theft and defrauding municipal funds. They have pleaded ‘not guilty’ to all charges against them.

The former Chief Financial Officer was called on by the state to give testimony on the financial operations of the municipality and the action she took after discovering that police were investigating the trio. The attorneys requested a postponement to prepare for cross-examination, and the state did not oppose it as the witness indicated that she is due for induction at her new job.

Khumalo, Hendry, and Shuping are out on warning and they were cautioned not to interfere with the state witnesses.

It is alleged that the North-West University (NWU) and the Programme for Community Development (PCD), paid millions into a trust account belonging to Willem Coetzee’s law firm. The millions was paid for the use of specific projects by the municipality. The attorney was then given instructions to effect various payments, including a R208 000 mayoral committee contribution, towards the funeral of the late MEC for Agriculture, Duma Ndleleni, who passed away in November 2018.

Coetzee, who was introduced to the court as an attorney from Willem Coetzee Attorneys, is the key witness in this trial. Willem Coetzee Attorneys was a member of a panel of attorneys appointed by the J.B. Marks Local Municipality, to manage its legal and financial mandates through a trust fund. Coetzee testified on how the accused instructed him, as the acting chairperson of the panel, to make payments to several accounts on different occasions.

Coetzee told the court he was also instructed to pay two amounts of R35 000 to Kagisano Funerals, for the same funeral, which the funeral parlour alleges was never received. A further R32 000 was allegedly paid to Roche Trading, for services rendered at the funeral. An amount of R210 000 was also highlighted as a form of payment to a law firm, Langford and Sons Projects (PTY) Ltd, for an Australian football tour that was undertaken by Hendry.

It was, however, discovered that R200 000 was paid directly into the account of one of the accused, and from this, an amount of over R64 000 was paid to an institution where Khumalo’s relative was a student. Coetzee also testified on how Khumalo instructed him to pay two Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), an amount of R50 000 each, which was a loan for repayment. He was later given a different account to which he transferred an amount of R100 000, instead of the R50 000 to each NGO. Coetzee told the court that he has since stopped being a member of the panel, following investigations into this case.

The state intends to call more witnesses to prove that false invoices were generated, to effect more fictitious payments, in the process of defrauding and stealing money meant for community development in the JB Marks Local Municipality.