Ex-joburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda Not Off The Hook, Npa Says

The National Prosecuting Authority NPA says it will re-institute criminal charges against former Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda and his co-accused Mduduzi Zondo.

At a brief hearing at the Protea magistrates court on Tuesday morning 25 February, the state prosecutor in the case said the NPA was provisionally withdrawing charges against the pair.

The state had charged them with fraud linked to an alleged funeral policy scam.

Between 2011 and 2012, Soweto residents were allegedly deceived into paying monthly funeral policy contributions to a company called iThemba Lama Afrika, of which the two were directors.

In a statement later on Tuesday, the NPA explained that it had provisionally withdrawn the charges because additional complainants had come forward, which necessitated further investigations that were not anticipated at the inception of the case.

Once these investigations have been finalised, criminal proceedings will be re-instituted, it added.

Gwamanda and Zondo were first arrested in October last year but were released on bail. In November, Mayor Dada Morero fired him as member of mayoral committee for Community Development.

Speaking to the media after Tuesdays court appearance, Gwamanda claimed the charges were politically motivated.

As indicated previously, there is no evidence that points to any activities that points to fraud. It is an issue of a politically motivated attack on an individual that is somewhat different from many politicians, he said.

I dont know the reason for them to take that kind of posture, but it is important to use the structures available to us to prove either innocence or guilt.