Fraud suspect ordered to keep court informed

A WOMAN charged with fraud relating to an alleged false claim lodged with the Road Accident Fund ( RAF) was warned yesterday to get airtime as a priority to enable her to telephone the court authorities if she was unable to attend proceedings.

A warrant for the immediate arrest of Nontombi Simanga, 36, was issued on Monday after she failed to respond when her name was called at a court in Bellville.

During yesterday’s proceedings in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Bellville, prosecutor Simone Liedeman said the arrest warrant had not been executed, and Simanga, of Gugulethu, had come to court of her own volition – unaware of the warrant.

The prosecutor said Simanga had been ill, according to legal aid defence lawyer Harley Cloete, and the State accepted this as the reason for her absence.

Simanga appeared before magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg, who warned her to appear again on November 4 – but not before issuing a stern warning.

Questioned by the magistrate, Simanga said she was unemployed and survived on a government grant.

The magistrate warned her to use some of her money to purchase airtime “so that you can call the court if you cannot attend the proceedings”.

The magistrate said her failure to attend the proceedings on Monday was unfair to the officers of the court, as well as the public.

She said Simanga’s failure to appear had caused a waste of resources, as the police had to track her down when they could have spent their time attending to serious crime and apprehending hardened criminals instead.

Simanga has not yet pleaded to the fraud charge.

It is alleged she lodged a fraudulent R10 000 claim with

It is alleged four years ago

the RAF four years ago, falsely stating she had been knocked over as a pedestrian.

An investigation revealed she had neither reported the incident to the police nor called an ambulance.

Although she had been to a medical practitioner for the completion of a medical report, she had failed to inform the doctor she had been knocked over by a car.

A second alleged RAF fraud matter yesterday, in the same court, involved Faith Mgcina, 33, also of Gugulethu.

Prosecutor Denzyl Combrink alleged she had falsely claimed to have been the victim of a hit-and-run incident five years ago, fraudulently claiming R832 000 from the RAF.

In her claim, it is alleged she falsely stated she had lost her two-month pregnancy, as well as her job with a homebased care NGO as a result of the incident.

According to the charge sheet, an investigation revealed she had suffered an ectopic pregnancy, in which the foetus develops outside the womb, and had bled for three days before the alleged hit-andrun.

According to the charge sheet, RAF authorities became suspicious of the claim and declined it.

Mgcina was warned to appear in court again on November 14. – ANA