IPTS fraud accused mother and son abandon recusal application
A bid by embattled Gqeberha businesswoman Andrea Wessels to stop her former lawyer from representing her co-accused in a multimillion-rand racketeering case — citing a conflict of interest — was short-lived when the application was abandoned at the final hour yesterday.
Wessels and her son, Rukaard Abrahams, stalled proceedings in the city’s high court when they indicated through their new legal representatives that they intended to bring an application to have defence attorney Danie Gouws recused from the matter.
Initially represented by Gouws, the mother and son are accused of pilfering money from the now-defunct Integrated Public Transport System (IPTS), alongside several highranking officials, businesspeople and an attorney.
Because Gouws was so intricately involved in their affairs, they believed they would be prejudiced.
Gouws had represented Wessels and Abrahams when the allegations first came to light, but his mandate was terminated due to a lack of funds after the case was transferred to the high court last year and Legal Aid SA took over.
Yesterday, Clint Jacobs and advocate Elsabet Theron informed judge Philip Zilwa that their clients intended to bring applications to have Gouws removed as an attorney on record.
Gouws is representing former metro budget and treasury department assistant director Nadia Gerwel, Mhleli Tshamase, who was initially in charge of IPTS projects, businessman Fareed Fakir, axed Bay deputy mayor and former ANC MPL Chippa Ngcolomba, and former Bay ANC regional secretary Zandisile Qupe.
David le Roux, and law firm Le Roux Inc, are represented by Cape Town-based advocate Francois van Zyl SC, while former infrastructure and engineering executive director Walter Shaidi is represented by Robin O’Brien after his previous lawyer, advocate Richard Crompton, withdrew.
They all face a host of charges including fraud, money laundering, corruption and racketeering, for allegedly siphoning off millions of rand meant for the IPTS — a project which never got off the ground.
All the accused have already indicated that they intend pleading not guilty.
Having heard from Theron and Jacobs, Zilwa said the basis
of the application was that Wessels and Abrahams anticipated prejudice should Gouws continue to be part of the trial.
Their heads of argument were due to be filed yesterday afternoon, with Gouws given an opportunity to file his papers by this morning, followed by arguments in the afternoon.
But in an about-turn, Wessels and Abrahams abandoned their applications and the trial will now proceed today.
The case has not been without controversy since it was first placed on the high court roll in January. At the time, Wessels claimed she could not attend court proceedings due to ill health.
Her doctor in Gauteng, where she now lives, was then called to testify.
But Zilwa found there was no reason Wessels could not attend court and ordered the trial to continue.
Shortly thereafter, Wessels and Abrahams’s first Legal Aid attorney, who took over from Gouws, Khaya Saziwa, withdrew from the matter, citing a conflict of interest.
Theron and Jacobs were then appointed. It is alleged that between August 2013 and May 2015, the accused, including late former mayor Mongameli Bobani, colluded to line their own pockets with money meant to be used for the IPTS.
They were arrested in November 2020 and released on bail.
Among them, they face 16 counts of fraud, two of racketeering, 59 of money laundering, 53 of corruption, two counts of contravening the Criminal Procedure Act for supplying false information, two of contravening the Act for impeding an accounting officer and five counts of contravening the Act by failing to report suspicious or unusual transactions.
It is alleged they used nowdefunct companies registered in the names of Fakir, Wessels and Abrahams to make sure the procurement processes of the metro, as well as its department’s system of financial and internal controls, were captured in an irregular manner by using a seemingly legitimate approach.
According to the state, the businesses were ultimately used as vehicles to facilitate racketeering and to disguise criminal activities by distributing the proceeds of the alleged crimes to each other.
Within 21 months, more than R56m was allegedly paid from the metro to Fakir’s business account, with Wessels allegedly receiving more than R17.4m during the same period.
Ngcolomba allegedly walked away with R175,000, paid into the account of his soccer team, Morning Stars, Abrahams with nearly R10m, and Qupe with more than R3m.
Le Roux, who was appointed as a consultant, allegedly walked away with R1.7m after claiming a 10% commission fee for his services.
It is not yet clear how Tshamase and Shaidi benefited from the alleged criminal enterprise.
Gerwel allegedly played a pivotal role in the scheme by facilitating the payments.
She was allegedly rewarded with R50,000 and a R290,000 cash deposit on a BMW X3 for her efforts.