Another chapter was closed in the VBS Mutual Bank scandal, on Wednesday, when former Fetakgomo-Tubatse municipal manager Johannes Mohlala was sentenced to five years in prison, with the sentence wholly suspended.
Johannes Mohlala and co-accused sentenced over VBS scandal
This means that Mohlala will avoid jail time, provided he is not convicted of a similar offence within that period and pays a fine of R100,000 to the curator of VBS.
The court’s ruling on Wednesday, 6 November 2024 marks one of the first major sentences for a municipal official involved in the VBS scandal, a case that exposed extensive corruption and brought down South Africa’s first black-owned bank.
Mohlala’s conviction relates to the illegal investment of municipal funds into VBS Mutual Bank, contravening the Municipal Finance Management Act (MFMA).
Mohlala had pleaded guilty under Section 105A of the Criminal Procedure Act, a plea agreement that likely contributed to his suspended sentence.
Mohlala was not alone in facing charges over the VBS affair.
Alongside him were the former Fetakgomo-Tubatse Municipality CFO Tumelo Ratau, and businessman Keaobaka Kgatitsoe.
The trio was arrested in November 2021 following a probe into the Fetakgomo-Tubatse Municipality’s decision to invest a total of R230 million into VBS Mutual Bank over a series of transactions between November 2016 and February 2018.
Investigators revealed that this investment violated the MFMA and was financially devastating to the municipality.
Kgatitsoe, who was sentenced in 2022, received a five-year sentence, wholly suspended, meaning he also avoided direct jail time.
Meanwhile, Ratau was absent from court proceedings this week, leading the court to issue a warrant for his arrest, with the case adjourned to 18 November 2024 for further proceedings regarding the forfeiture of his bail.
