/ 9 January 2011

Thousands bid farewell to Majali in Port St Johns

The funeral of controversial businessman Sandile Majali in Port St Johns in the Eastern Cape went ahead peacefully, his lawyer said on Sunday.

“There was no violence and everyone who did speeches paid tribute to Majali,” said John Ngcebetsha.

He said over 3 000 people had attended the burial.

Majali’s family has been working with ANC leaders and community leaders in the area to ensure that the funeral was a “calm and non-violent one”, he said.

Majali (48) was found dead in his room at the Sandton Quatermain Hotel in Johannesburg on December 26.

Ngcebetsha maintains that it was highly unlikely that his death was a suicide.

Oilgate
Majali, who was said to be in financial trouble, came into the public eye following his role in the Oilgate saga that saw him “donate” R11-million of PetroSA’s funds to the African National Congress ahead of the 2004 elections.

He was arrested in October 2010 by the South African Police Service’s Commercial Crimes Unit on fraud charges and was released on bail — after directorship of mining company Kalahari Resources were changed from Brian Amos Mashile and his sister Daphne Mashile-Nkosi to a group of eight people including Majali.

The two siblings had to bring an urgent interdict before the High Court in Johannesburg to get themselves reinstated as directors of the company.

Majali was due to appear in the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court again on January 18.

His three co-accused Stephan Khoza, Haralambos Sferopoulous and Elvis Bongani Ndala, have appeared in court over their mental fitness to stand trial. – Sapa