Former Joburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda arrested for alleged scam
Former Johannesburg mayor Kabelo Gwamanda has been arrested in connection with an alleged funeral policy scam that he ran in Soweto more than a decade ago.
Police arrested Gwamanda on Friday. According to the warrant of arrest, Gwamanda, who is now MMC for community development, was arrested after a victim of his alleged scam opened a case at Protea Glen police station.
Gwamanda is alleged to have conned unsuspecting Soweto residents in a scheme in which they made monthly payments for funeral insurance.
A Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) investigation last year revealed that Gwamanda — who is an Al Jama-ah councillor — operated the illegal business in 2012 and then disappeared when his clients sought their money.
The victim, who opened the case against Gwamanda in January, told the police she took out a funeral policy with Gwamanda’s company, Ithemba Lama Afrika, which was based in Soweto. However, when she went to visit their offices she found that the company had moved.
“She did her own investigation and found other victims. She was told that the two directors had committed suicide after failing to pay money back to investors,” reads the police report. “Investors were under the impression that both directors had died, only to see one suspect appearing on TV as the mayor of Johannesburg.”
A warrant of arrest for Gwamanda was issued in May but he was in Brazil. He promised to meet the investigating officer upon his return, but he failed to do so.
“The investigating officer struggled to get hold of Kabelo on his phone and decided to profile him and trace his address ... and found his wife,” according to the police report.
Gwamanda handed himself over on Friday at about 8am.
TimesLIVE
