SA general’s wife charged for fraud

JOHANNESBURG - The wife of a senior SA National Defence Force (SANDF) general, Nombasa Ntsondwa- Ndhlovu, was granted R80, 000 bail after appearing at the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes court on fraud charges amounting to about R100 million.

According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Sipho Ngwema, Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu was arrested on Wednesday morning and later released on condition she made no contact with witnesses.

She also had to hand in her passport to the investigating officer.

"A tender was awarded by the SANDF to Ukhumbe Marine (the legal entity belonging to Ntsondwa- Ndhlovu) to transport SANDF equipment back from African countries to South Africa.

“The contract value was approximately R24 million. It is alleged that she provided false information/documents as part of the tender process,” said Ngwema.

He added the accused was awarded another contract of R103 million, again to transport SANDF equipment, but the soldiers were then recalled from service in the African countries leading to its cancellation. Ntsondwa-Ndhlovu then allegedly claimed R30 million from the SANDF while claiming she had already, before the cancellation, incurred expenses to that value.

The case was postponed to December 9.

In Algeria, a businesswoman who many believed was the secret daughter of former Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for money laundering, influence peddling, squandering public funds and illegally transferring money abroad.