Winnie claims unfair trial
2004-06-21 12:01
Pretoria - Former African National Congress Women's League (ANCWL) president Winnie Madikizela-Mandela claimed on Monday her conviction on dozens of fraud and theft charges had been the result of an unfair trial.
Ishmael Simenya, for Madikizela-Mandela, told the Pretoria High Court his client's constitutional rights had been infringed upon when the trial judge turned down her application for further particulars on the charge sheet.
"It is virtually impossible such a violation of a fundamental right, still yielding a fair trial," he argued.
Madikizela-Mandela and her broker Addy Moolman have maintained their innocence.
Simenya contended the state had failed to prove that alleged misrepresentation made in loan applications to Saambou Bank had directly resulted in the institution being defrauded.
The prosecution, he said, failed to show the causal link between the alleged representation and the loans being granted.
No evidence was led during the trial on how the applications were assessed and on what grounds they were granted.
Madikizela-Mandela was given an effective four-year sentence in April last year after she was found guilty of 43 counts of fraud and 25 of theft. Eight months of the sentence were to be served in prison and the rest as community service.
Moolman was convicted of the same charges plus another 15 of fraud.
He was given an effective five-year prison sentence.
The fraud charges related to loans obtained from Saambou for non-ANCWL employees using fake letters on a letterhead with Madikizela-Mandela's signature.
The letters falsely stated that the loan applicants were in the league's employ.
The theft charges pertain to amounts of R360 deducted from loan applicants' bank accounts for a funeral policy the state said was not underwritten.
For Moolman, Dup Du Plessis argued that the state had failed to prove his client was guilty of fraud.
On the theft charges, he maintained Moolman had been acting on Madikizela-Mandela's instruction.
- SAPA