Winnie an appallingwitness - court told

2003-04-22 12:34

Pretoria - Winnie Madikizela-Mandela had been an appalling witness in her fraud and theft trial, Pretoria regional court was told on Tuesday.

"She was fuzzy in her answers," said Jan Ferreira for the State.

"Her evidence was so bad that one could equate it to not having testified at all."

The African National Congress Women's League president and her co-accused, broker Addy Moolman, have pleaded not guilty to 60 charges of fraud and 25 of theft.

The State alleges that official league letters, which carried Madikizela-Mandela's signature, were used to fraudulently get loans from Saambou Bank for people who did not work for the league.

The theft charges relate to amounts of R360 deducted from loan applicants' bank accounts for a funeral policy that allegedly did not exist.

Concluding her testimony last month, Madikizela-Mandela said she signed the documents her secretary brought to her without checking them.

Ferreira argued on Tuesday: "One would, however, expect... that a former deputy minister and now president of an esteemed organisation... would diligently take notice of the exact content of documents she attaches her signature to."

The trial continues.

- SAPA