The former Eastern Cape Health member of the executive council, Sindiswa Gomba and her co-accused made their first appearance in the East London High Court on 5 October 2021.

This is subsequent to several postponements in the East London Regional Court after their apprehension by the East London based Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team of the Hawks on 12 February 2021 for charges of fraud, money laundering, contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act and corruption.

The accused would be answering to the charges related to the procurement of service providers for the transportation and booking of venues during the memorial service and funeral preparations of the late Nelson Mandela by the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. This happened in 2013 and 2014. The fraudulent claims add up to R10 million.

Yesterday was their first high court appearance. The matter was postponed to 19 January 2022 for plea proceedings.

Source: South African Police Service