The three men accused of allegedly defrauding the Department of Labour’s Compensation Fund millions of rands are to appear in the Pretoria Specialised Crime Court on Wednesday (17 August 2011).
The accused Maxwell Ramaphosa, Samuel Mfeleng and Jurry Sehunoe last appeared in Court on 26 July 2011 and succeeded in convincing magistrate N Setshogoe to postpone the start of the trial. The accused were expected to plead, marking the start of a trial that had been characterised by ‘countless’ postponements. However, the accused failed to plead citing a myriad of excuses.
Ramaphosa’s lawyer pleaded with Setshogoe citing lack of information for him to proceed with the trial. His co-accused Mfeleng fired his lawyer Dirk Human who was seconded to him by the Legal Aid Board on the eve of the start of the trial and requested the court to offer him time to make another application or lodge an appeal to the Legal Aid for another legal representative.
Mfeleng’s lawyer declined to disclose the reasons for his expulsion saying he preferred these to remain confidential as this would be prejudicial to the outcome of the trial. Human, however, told the Court that he had cautioned his ‘former’ clients of his actions.
The accused are out on a bail of R3 000 each. They face 22 counts of fraud valued at more than R3,8 million and 28 counts of money laundering amounting to more than R860 000.
The Compensation Fund is a business entity of the Department of Labour. The fund handles cover for compensation of workers injured during work or diseases sustained or contracted by employees during the course of their work. The Fund also covers for death resulting from injuries and diseases, and related matters that occur during occupation.
Enquiries:
Page Boikanyo
Cell: 082 809 3195
Source: Department of Labour
