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Trial of two men accused of R25 million fraud in Limpopo postponed

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The Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Giyani has again postponed the trial of Fhatuwani Mudzanani and Walter Mashau.  The two allegedly stole R25 million from Limpopo government departments.

The trial has been postponed for a second time for Mudzanani to get a new legal representative.

Mashau allegedly connived with bank employee, Mudzanani, to transfer money from the bank accounts of two departments into accounts they had created.

The trial has been postponed to the 14th of October for Fhatuwani Mudzanani to get a lawyer from the Legal Aid Board.

Prosecutor Dalton Tshinyani made an application that the trial be postponed because Mudzanani cannot be represented by the same Legal Aid Board lawyer who is currently representing his co-accused, Walter Mashau.

Tshinyani said Mudzanani must be allocated his own lawyer from the board. He further said the two have different testimonies, and this would make it difficult for the same lawyer to represent them. They face six charges of theft and six of fraud.

Bank employee accused of stealing money from Limpopo government granted bail:

Mudzanani’s previous lawyer withdrew from the case, citing lack of communication with his client.

Mudzanani also withdrew his intention to plead guilty during his previous appearance. He had previously intended to plead guilty so he could get a lenient sentence.

Mudzanani and Mashau are out on bail of R2 000 and R10 000, respectively.

Meanwhile, a traffic officer, Takalani Sigebe and a driving school instructor, Ntsieni Savhuli are being tried for alleged corruption at the same Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Giyani.

The two were arrested two years ago for allegedly accepting bribes from people who were scheduled for driver’s license tests.

The bribes were allegedly paid to enable people to get driver’s licences without passing the test.

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