Charges against former Joburg Mayor dropped
This was after the accused were charged with fraud related to an alleged funeral policy scam.
Former Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda posted a video on his X account after a short appearance at the Protea Magistrate’s Court with his co-accused Mduduzi Zondo after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) provisionally withdrew the fraud charges against them on February 25.
The two were accused of allegedly defrauding residents of Soweto in a funeral policy scam where the residents were deceived into paying monthly contributions to the supposed iThemba Lama Afrika, a company in which the accused were directors.
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In a video, Gwamande said, “The State had no choice but to drop the case because there is no evidence to any activities that points to fraud.
“I previously had indicated to the residents that I had attempted to run a business and it failed and not in the narrative being driven by politicians.’’
He added that they relied purely on the merits of the case and processes of the court to be proven innocent hence they are not going to trial.
The charges were provisionally withdrawn because additional complaints came forward which necessitated further investigations that were not predicted at the commencement of the case. Once the investigations have been finalised, criminal proceedings will be re-instituted.
