Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s appeal against her fraud and theft conviction was partly upheld in the Pretoria High Court on Monday, and her four-year sentence replaced with a wholly suspended one.
Judge Eberhardt Bertelsmann dismissed 25 theft charges against the former African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) president, but upheld 43 of fraud.
He found that the trial court had been correct in holding that Madikizela-Mandela’s evidence on the fraud charges could not be reasonably true.
Her co-accused, financial services broker Addie Moolman, also had the 25 theft charges against him quashed.
His appeal against his fraud conviction, like Madikizela-Mandela’s, was also dismissed. His jail sentence — five years in effect — was reduced to four years.
The fraud charges relate to loans obtained from the now-defunct Saambou Bank for non-ANCWL-employees using letters on ANCWL letterheads bearing Madikizela-Mandela’s signature. The letters fraudulently stated that the applicants were employed by the ANCWL.
The theft charges pertained to amounts of R360 deducted from loan applicants’ bank accounts for a funeral policy that did not exist. – Sapa