Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, the ex-wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to 85 counts of fraud and theft charges involving nearly R1-million ($100 000).
The charges stem from an alleged scam to obtain bank loans for nonexistent employees of the African National Congress Women’s League, which Madikizela-Mandela leads.
Madikizela-Mandela (64) has been accused of using the money to support a lifestyle far more expensive than would be possible on her parliamentary paycheck.
An anti-apartheid hero, Madikizela-Mandela is wildly popular with many poor urban blacks. She has also been criticised by President Thabo Mbeki and senior ruling party officials as a self-promoting insubordinate.
She faces a maximum of 15 years in jail if convicted. She was being tried on Tuesday along with broker Addy Moolman, who also pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The trial had been postponed from Monday after Madikizela-Mandela’s lawyer Ishmael Semenya asked for more time to get information from the prosecutors.
Authorities said Madikizela-Mandela and Moolman, whom they described as her financial adviser, negotiated a deal with Saambou Bank last year to secure loans for women’s league employees.
Sixty people falsely claiming to be women’s league employees then obtained loans from the bank, authorities said. Those people all carried letters on women’s league stationery confirming their employment, and most of those letters were signed by Madikizela-Mandela, authorities said.
Prosecutor Jan Ferreira said R550 000 ($55 000) was later deposited into Madikizela-Mandela’s personal accounts.
Willem van Zyl, a Saambou Bank official, testified on Tuesday he would never have approved the loans had he known the recipients were not women’s league employees.
Madikizela-Mandela has denied any wrongdoing, saying she reported the crime to the police. In 1991, she was convicted of kidnapping and assault and sentenced to six years in prison. The sentence was reduced to a fine on appeal. – Sapa-AP