Some of the people allegedly scammed by former Johannesburg Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda say all they want is their money back. This comes after the fraud case against the embattled former mayor was provisionally withdrawn by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) last week.
One victim, who invested over R21,000 in Ithemba Lama Afrika, a company that was owned then by Gwamanda, is still reeling in pain.
Lefu Lebitsa had hope that investing in Ithemba Lama Afrika in 2014 would change his life for the better. He says Kabelo Gwamanda and his co-accused, Mduduzi Zondo, promised them that they would reap the rewards.
“I first deposited R11,000 at Maponya Mall and Kabelo was the one who drove there. The next day they gave me a letter confirming that I am a shareholder. Five days later, I paid the remaining R10,000. We have agreed that R19,000 would be for the 4% shares in the company,” explains Lebitsa.
At the time, Gwamanda allegedly ran his business at his family home.
Lebitsa was shocked when the once-friendly business partners turned on him
“They would ignore my calls at times. But when I was in the process of paying them money, they would come to my house and drive me to go deposit the money into the Ithembu Lama Afrika bank account. We had a close relationship. They would even take me out for lunch and bring me back,” says Lebitsa.
The father of one says the R21,000 he invested was from his savings, which were meant to further his education.
During Gwamanda’s last appearance, he could not confirm whether he would reimburse those who invested in his company.
“I am willing to sit down and support them. You find that it is not just a re-imbursement of the receipts that they are looking for because the amounts would not be anything meaningful,” he said.
The former mayor’s political home Al Jama-ah believes in his innocence, saying he will continue to do his party work.
“He lost two jobs. But the law must run its course and we are very happy that the NPA acted impartially after the lawyers wrote to them to explain this anomaly and this travesty of justice. You cannot destroy a young politician’s life like that,” says Ganief Hendricks the Al Jama-ah President.
Lebitsa maintains that the delay in justice has left him regretting his decisions.
