SOME of the placards, held up by more than 100 protesters outside the Nelspruit Magistrate's Court where Kaizer Chiefs football club manager Bobby Motaung and his co-accused appeared on charges of tender fraud, read: "Bobby, who killed Jimmy?"
The protesters were asking a question which, they said, they hoped Motaung and his co-accused's case would answer. Inside the court Motaung, 42, and his business partner Herbert Theledi, 48, were released on R50,000 bail each.
Reading out the charges, prosecutor Patrick Nkuna said the forged Sars documents had subsequently led to the "time when murders in Nelspruit started". Theledi's defence counsel, Kenny Oldwage, was quick to object to the statement.
"I would like to caution him (Nkuna) ... This is a danger zone. It's sensationalism of the worst kind ... I will ask that we deal with the matter at hand," Oldwage said.
Nkuna said: "We will state in the trial that these (forged) documents are the source of the murders."
Jimmy Mohlala, a former Mbombela local municipality speaker, was gunned down outside his home in Nelspruit in January 2009, several months after he blew the whistle on the R1.2-billion Mbombela Stadium fraud. Motaung and Theledi, who are directors of Lefika Emerging Equity, face charges of forgery and fraud relating to the building of Mbombela Stadium in Mbombela, Mpumalanga. Their other co-accused, Chris Grib, turned himself in to the police in Cape Town. He is expected to appear in the Nelspruit Magistrate's Court today.
The State alleges that the trio and their company forged documents, that they handed to the Mbombela municipality when they were bidding for the tender to build the stadium in 2006. Hawks spokesman McIntosh Polela said they were investigating Mohlala's murder.
THEIR FINANCES - AND FAMILY OBLIGATIONS
Herbert Theledi
In an affidavit read out by Oldwage, Theledi said he was a divorcee and had nine children between 11 months and 24-years old.
He pays maintenance of about R50,000 for all his children combined.
Theledi said he had assets of about R70-million. These included houses, cars and jewellery.
His monthly income was R150,000.
Bobby Motaung
In his affidavit, read out by legal representative Nomthandazo Mtsweni, Motaung said his assets were R12-million. He had cars worth R4-million. His monthly income was R100,000. He also had other sources of income.
He is married to Ashley and they have three children aged between 5 and 23 years.
In addition to that he is the guardian of five of his late brother and sister's children.
OCTOBER DATE WITH COURT
The duo pleaded with the court not to confiscate their passports because they were businessmen and travelled a lot.
Magistrate Naomi Engelbrecht ordered that the two let the police know when they want to travel.
The case has been postponed to October 15.
Source: Sowetan
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