/ 31 August 2000

ABE WILLIAMS’S SISTER HAS A TURN IN THE DOCK

ZELDA Ingrid Williams, the sister of convicted thief and former cabinet minister Abe Williams, has appeared briefly in the Paarl Magistrate’s Court on fraud charges involving R56 740. Williams, 35, was not asked to plead. With her in the dock was Theuns Blom, 30, who faces similar charges. Both face 25 counts of fraud. The case results from Williams’s stint as a bookkeeper with the non-governmental organisation Landelike Ontwikkeling Korporasie (Lanok). Williams, as Lanok’s bookkeeper, is alleged to have deposited sums totalling R56 740 into an account other than that of Lanok, while Blom, as a Lanok helper, is alleged to have withdrawn the sums as they were deposited. She was arrested on March 28 this year, and Blom on March 30, and both are on bail of R1000 each. They were ordered to appear in court again on September 29. Williams’ brother, Abe, is awaiting the outcome of his petition to the Chief Justice, after the Cape High Court recently refused him leave to appeal against convictions and a jail sentence for the theft of political donations