Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is asking the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) for leave to appeal against a series of fraud convictions.
The court papers were handed in at the SCA in Bloemfontein on Tuesday, a court official confirmed on Wednesday.
The Pretoria High Court early in February dismissed an application by the former African National Congress Women’s League (ANCWL) president for leave to appeal to the SCA for her conviction on 43 counts of fraud and a suspended sentence.
The co-accused in the matter, broker Addy Moolman, also sought leave to approach the SCA to challenge his 58 fraud convictions and four-year prison sentence. It was dismissed.
Pretoria High Court Judge Eberhardt Bertelsmann ruled that another court is unlikely to come to a different conclusion.
The pair was initially also found guilty of 25 charges of theft but these counts were dropped on appeal to the Pretoria High Court last July.
Moolman’s sentence was then reduced from five years’ imprisonment and Madikizela-Mandela’s from an effective eight-month jail term to a wholly suspended one.
The fraud relates to loans obtained on behalf of non-existent ANCWL employees from Saambou Bank through brokerage firm Imstadt.
The loans were approved on the basis of letters on ANCWL letterheads signed by Madikizela-Mandela, falsely stating that the applicants were employed by the league.
Delivering his judgement, Bertelsmann said it was improbable that Madikizela-Mandela would have signed the 43 letters without knowing their contents, as she claimed.
He also pointed out that Madikizela-Mandela’s social standing and reputation had been irreparably damaged by her conviction, and her political and social influence impaired.
”This constitutes severe punishment in itself,” Bertelsmann said.
Madikizela-Mandela has, since her conviction, resigned from the ANCWL, and as MP and member of the ANC’s national executive committee.
Moolman’s bail was extended on February 11 for him to lodge a petition directly to the Supreme Court of Appeal within 21 days.
If the petition fails, he will have to report within seven days to the clerk of the Pretoria High Court to start serving his sentence. — Sapa