By pursuing an application for leave to appeal against their fraud convictions, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and broker Addy Moolman risk another court imposing heavier sentences, the state warned on Monday.
”There is no prospect of the sentences changing to their benefit,” advocate Jan Ferreira argued for the state in the Pretoria High Court. The state opposed the pair’s bid for leave to challenge their convictions in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
”The risk is that if this court grants them leave to appeal, the SCA may interfere to their disadvantage.”
The High Court reserved judgement in the application by the former African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) president and Moolman to take their concerns to Bloemfontein.
They claims the High Court erred when it partly dismissed their appeals last July.
At the time, the court dismissed Madikizela-Mandela’s appeal against 43 fraud convictions, but upheld her challenge against 25 of theft.
It replaced her four-year prison sentence — of which eight months were to have been served in jail — with a wholly suspended one.
Moolman also had 25 theft charges against him quashed, but the court dismissed his appeal against 58 fraud convictions. His five-year jail sentence was reduced by one year.
The fraud related to loans obtained from Saambou Bank for non-ANCWL employees — through insurance broker Imstud — using letters on ANCWL letterheads bearing Madikizela-Mandela’s signature.
The letters fraudulently stated that the loan applicants were salaried employees of the league.
It was argued for Madikizela-Mandela on Monday that the state had failed to prove the loans were actually granted on the strength of the fraudulent letters.
Ishmael Semenya, SC, also contended there was no basis to reject Madikizela-Mandela’s evidence that she had not read the letters before signing them.
Semenya claimed a constitutional violation on the grounds that the state had withheld documents required for his client’s defence.
On Moolman’s behalf, it was argued that the state had failed to prove that Saambou had suffered any harm because of the misrepresentation.
He also complained that his sentence was too severe and disproportionate to that handed down to Madikizela-Mandela.
Ferreira said the only reasonable inference to be drawn from the available evidence was that Saambou had indeed acted on the fraudulent letters in granting the loans.
As for the documents allegedly withheld from the defence, he said those not provided were irrelevant to the trial and therefore inadmissible.
There was also clear evidence that Madikizela-Mandela knew what was in the letters when she signed them, Ferreira said.
Regarding Moolman’s sentence, he said the average sentence for white-collar criminals in similar circumstances is ”something in the region of” eight years.
He pointed out that Moolman’s offence had been planned and was executed over a period of time. Also, he had been driven by greed and not need.
”The sentence seems to be very light,” Ferreira said.
The court is expected to rule on the pair’s application within a fortnight. — Sapa