The Durban Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sentenced Gideon Pretorius (51) and Vimal Amichand Rajbansi (51), to an effective eight years imprisonment each, following their conviction on fraud amounting to R3.1 million. Rajbansi’s company, Brainwave Projects was fined R500 000, and this fine was suspended for five years with conditions.
The Palm Ridge Specialised Crimes Court deferred the former BOSASA Chief Operations Officer, Angelo Agrizzi’s fraud case to 18 May 2022. The postponement is for obtaining a High court date. Agrizzi, who has not been in court since October 2020, had initially intended to bring an application in terms of section 342A of the Criminal Procedure Act, into the unreasonable delay. The defence has now abandoned such an application.
A former prosecutor of Thohoyandou Magistrates Court, Leonard Makhado Ratshilumela (49) appeared in Thohoyandou Magistrate’s Court facing charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder. This follows an incident that happened on 29 March 2022, in Mukula village. Makhado and Mbofholowo Freedom Tshikovhele (27) were arrested yesterday, after allegedly attempting to kill and burn the house of a key witness. They are on trial for corruption and defeating the ends of justice.
The Madadeni Regional Court sentenced a 48-year-old man to life imprisonment, for the rape of his biological daughter from 2014 to 2015 in the Osizweni area. The girl was nine years old, and this happened at their home. She eventually became ill and discovered that she was HIV positive. This was a shock to her as she had never had sexual intercourse with anyone, apart from the rape incidents by her father.
The Mdantsane Regional Court sentenced Phakamile Folokhwe Coko (54), to life imprisonment after convicting them on two counts of raping a minor more than ten years ago. In the year 2010, Coko took advantage of the trust that was put by the then 10-year-old family in him and raped the girl on two occasions.
The Verulam Regional Court sentenced a 28-year-old man to life imprisonment for the repeated rape of his neighbour in March 2013. The man was 20 years old at the time and the boy was four. The man lived in the same block of flats in Phoenix as the boy and his mother. At some stage, the boy’s mother got ill and had to stay in hospital. The boy went to live with the nanny, who also lived in the same flat.
The East London Regional Court has found Sibongile Mani guilty of theft. The Walter Sisulu University (WSU) student received more than R14 million into her student account from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and spent over R800 000. She will serve five years imprisonment, subject to the provisions of Section 276 (1) i.