Nelson Mandela funeral graft: Gomba, other officials back in court

The Eastern Cape’s former Health MEC Sindiswa Gomba along with 14 other people are expected to make a return to the East London Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, 11 May 2021, for fraud and corruption charges to the tune of R10 million, meant for the funeral of former president Nelson Mandela.

Gomba, National Council of Provinces (NCOP) member Zukiswa Ncita, African National Congress (ANC) regional chairperson Phumlani Mkolo, former Buffalo City speaker Luleka Simon Ndzele, are among the suspects.

They face a string of serious charges including fraud, corruption, money laundering, and contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act. They appeared before the East London Regional Court on 12 February 2021 and were subsequently released on R1 000 bail each.

Other accused in the matter include Themba Tinta, Tembelani Prideaux Sali, Ondela Vatile Mahlangu, Viwe Vazi, Zintle Nkuhlu (a trustee of the Lilly Rose Trust) and Nqaba Ludidi.

The scheme to cash in on Nelson Mandela’s funeral

Sindiswa Gomba and the other suspects are said to have formulated a massive scheme to cash in on Nelson Mandela’s funeral in December 2013. They allegedly tricked the Buffalo City municipality into availing R10 million for the event and ended up siphoning off R6 million of those funds.

“Before the Buffalo City Municipality had an opportunity to officially consider procurement services for the funeral, one of the suspects, Phumzile Mkolo, agreed with a service provider, Mzwandile Sokwali from Victory Ticket 750 cc, that his company would submit an inflated quotation for the transportation of mourners to various venues,” says NPA spokesperson Sipho Ngwenya.

“It is alleged that the BCM officials acted with a common purpose to defraud and manipulate municipal procurement processes through illegal deviation to ensure the appointment of Victory Ticket. Further, Nkuhlu, Mati and her company, Mpidos, received proceeds of unlawful activities, as arranged between Mkolo and Sokwali”

In December 2014, Sokwali and his company, Victory Ticket, pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering. He was fined R100 000 and given a five year suspended sentence.