Sindiswa Gomba and 13 Others Plead Not Guilty in Nelson Mandela Funeral Trial

• Dean William Fano, a businessman from East London, has requested that the court separate him from the other accused in the Nelson Mandela funeral scandal
• He reasons that the other accused are involved in theft and fraud and Fanoe claims that he is not, as he was not aware that he was being paid with stolen money
• The other accused include Sindiswa Gomba and her co-accused, who have been charged with 27 counts and pleaded not guilty

EAST LONDON - Dean William Fano, a businessman from East London, owns Mantella Trading 522 CC. The company allegedly paid R1.3 million in 2013 by the African National Congress (ANC) to supply them with 20 000 T-shirts.

Fanoe has requested that the court separate Mantella Trading from the other accused in the case so that he can be tried as an individual. He reasons that the other accused are involved in theft and fraud, but Fanoe claims that he is not as he was not aware he was being paid with stolen money.

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According to eNCA, the other accused include Sindiswa Gomba, the former Health MEC for the Eastern Cape. Gomba and her co-accused, who have been charged with 27 counts, pleaded not guilty.

The co-accused are named

The co-accused include members of the Buffalo City Municipality, who led other metro leaders to believe that they needed to allocate the municipality's funds towards former president Nelson Mandela's funeral.

They were provided with R10 million, of which they spent R5.9 million. The accused had not spent the total amount because the Hawks intercepted them by ordering further payments to be halted immediately.

News24 reports that the names of the accused are:

• Zukiswa Ncitha, the former mayor;
• Phumlani Mkolo, the chaiperson for the region;
• Luleka Simon-Ndzele, the speaker for the Buffalo City metro; and
• Themba Tinta, the ex-deputy mayor.

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4 Buffalo City municipality councillors accused of stealing R10 million meant for Nelson Mandela's funeral

South Africans react to Nelson Mandela funeral case

@_tshepzR asked:

"When are they wrapping this show up?"

@Thando12609068 remarked:

"I believe him."

@NNomvo believes:

"They want to make him a scapegoat like Zandile Mafe, that's how they roll and making others their fall guys is in their veins."

@vJaarsveldFanie asked:

"Is there ONE honest ANC politician?"

4 Buffalo City councillors accused of stealing R10m meant for Mandela's funeral

In earlier news about this case, Briefly News reported that following the late Nelson Mandela's funeral in 2013, 14 municipal officials were accused of benefitting R10 million from the Buffalo City municipality and made it seem like the money was being used for the funeral.

Four of the officials were being represented by advocate Mike Maseti, and Maseti was being paid by the municipality, however, the municipality has made the decision to no longer pay the legal fees.

The four officials are the former municipality speaker, Luleka Simon-Ndzele, Zukiswa Ncitha, the former mayor, as well as Sindiswa Gomba, who is a former Buffalo City councillor, and former supply chain manager, Thembelani Sali.

Source: Briefly News