A group of twenty-seven people appeared in the Krugersdorp Magistrates' Court, on the alleged fraudulent passport syndicate operation. They were charged with corruption in terms of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act. 

The High Court of South Africa: Eastern Cape Division, Mthatha, sitting in Mbizana, sentenced Mzoxolo Mpanda (27) and Mluleki Maricela (35), to life imprisonment for the murder of a 79-year-old granny. The deceased, Ntombizodwa Kekela, was killed because her neighbour believed she was practising witchcraft. Mhlanyukwa Msongelwa (60) paid Mpinda and Madikizela, as well as their accomplice Nathi Njilo (23), an amount of R250 000 and a cow to have the grandmother killed.

Today the Free State High Court dismissed all of the accused’s interlocutory applications in the asbestos matter with costs.   

The NPA welcomes the judgment and will now focus on ensuring that the pretrial conference is concluded on the next court date so that a trial date can be arranged. We have always maintained that all the matters raised by the accused should be ventilated by the trial court when the trial proceedings commence. The NPA has full confidence in the strength of its case and will let the evidence speak for itself during the trial. 

The Zeerust Regional Court sentenced Kealeboga Coldridge Mongae(47), to six (6) years of direct imprisonment for defrauding the Ramotshere Moiloa Local Municipality a sum of over R1milliion.  Mongae’s conviction emanates from an incident on 16 May 2012, whereby he collected two cheques from the municipality for a service he did not render.

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) made a significant breakthrough this week in the ongoing effort to end impunity for high-level corruption. The preservation orders in the Optimum Coal Mine case are a demonstration that the wheels of justice in relation to complex crime are starting to turn in meaningful ways.

The Durban High Court sentenced McWayne Marimuthu (30), to 20 years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to murdering his wife, Roxanne Thanthoni in March 2020 in Tongaat. Marimuthu also pleaded guilty to three counts of assault and was sentenced to three months imprisonment for each count, these will run concurrently with the 20-year sentence. In his plea, Marimuthu stated that he suffered from substance abuse. He met Thanthoni at a church function in 2018, and they got married in December 2019.

The former Umkhonto Wesizwe and Military Veterans member, Hevy Sidney Khumalo (54), from White River made his second brief appearance in the Nelspruit Magistrates` Court earlier today on charges of arson and attempted murder. During his first appearance on 18 March 2022, the accused wanted to conduct his defence and later changed his mind and elected the services of a legal aid attorney and the bail application proceeded.

The Cape Town Magistrates’ Court postponed the case against alleged arsonist Zandile Christmas Mafe, for six weeks after the state requested to finalise outstanding investigations. Senior State Adv. Mervyn Menigo told the court that forensic investigators were granted access to parliament on 15 March 2022. Adv.

The Estcourt Regional Court sentenced a 36-year-old man to two terms of life imprisonment, for the rape of his biological daughter in the Lindelani area of Weenen. On the first count, the man raped his child on diverse occasions from  2017 to 2019. Then he raped her again in October 2020, when he was caught by his wife who found him and the child alone in a room. The man was in a state of undress and rushed to get dressed when he saw her.

The trial of Chen Wenhei who is facing a charge of contraventions of Counterfeiting Goods Act 37 of 1997, will commence in the Warrenton Regional Court on 14 April 2022. The accused was arrested on 10 July 2018, by members of the South African Police Service K9-Unit, while on patrol, police received information that the accused was running a counterfeit syndicate.