Magistrate in hot water over funds
A DURBAN magistrate entrusted with finances belonging to the KZN Association of Regional Magistrates of Southern Africa (Armsa) allegedly stole at least R50000, apparently making cash withdrawals from different ATMS while she was chairperson of the organisation.
Fariedha Mohamed confessed to taking the money in November and now the Magistrates Commission has the task of determining what action should be taken against her. But her attorney claimed that there was deliberate mischief being made against the magistrate.
Mohamed was elected the provincial chairperson of Armsa in 2014 and when the alleged theft occurred roughly between October 2019 and November 2021, she was the only signatory to their bank account. She was also apparently able to make these transactions without detection, as the KZN account was not linked to the national Armsa bank account.
According to Ian Cox, Armsa’s national secretary, the national office had planned a meeting in November with all the provincial treasurers who were required to forward their bank statements.
Mohamed was to submit one that dated back to 2019.
However, on November 25, 2021, a day before Mohamed was to disclose the bank statements, she confessed to taking the money and penned a resignation letter.
“I hereby wish to apologise for my recent unethical and dishonest behaviour and I hereby tender my resignation from Armsa with immediate effect,” reads the letter.
The following day Armsa president Jonathan Ratshibvumo, the national treasurer, Carol Honwana, Cox and Mohamed’s attorney met at the Durban Magistrate’s offices to discuss the matter. Apparently, Mohamed again admitted that she had taken the cash and undertook to reimburse the association.
“Fariedha must have realised that her indiscretions will appear from the statements and confessed before our meeting with her to the KZN elected treasurer, who was none the wiser as Fariedha kept all to herself.
“The exact amount is still under investigation, but it appears to be at least between R48000 and R50000. The KZN treasurer gave her two days to reimburse Armsa. Thereafter a deposit was made,” Cox said.
Cox said an amount of R15 000 was still outstanding.
“The theft was reported to the acting regional court president of KZN who in turn reported her to the Magistrates Commission. The commission will be conducting their own investigation and the Armsa national executive will decide whether or not a criminal case should be opened,” he said.
Vickey Persadh, Mohamed’s attorney said a meeting with a representative from the Magistrates Commission as well as the regional court president took place on Friday.
Persadh said his client would not comment as the matter was being handled by the appropriate authorities. He said the information received was not entirely accurate and that they would prove this.
“Someone is being mischievous in going to the press and going to the police in order to try and get even with this lady,” he said.
“There are two legs to the story. When Armsa came to know about the matter we dealt with the matter and we finalised it. Now that it has been escalated to something else, we obviously reserve our rights,” Persadh said.
Acting Regional Court President Sello Maboee declined to comment.