Court grants bail to Mthatha woman facing R4.8m Covid-19 fraud charges
The Mthatha Magistrate’s Court in the Eastern Cape has granted a 48-year-old woman bail after she appeared on charges of fraud linked to a Covid-19 campaign.
Pumza Gambula appeared in court on Thursday on two charges of fraud totalling R4.8 million.
She was arrested by the Hawks on Thursday morning.
Gambula, through her company Phathilizwi Training Institute, had a contract with OR Tambo District Municipality to conduct Covid-19 awareness workshops.
Spokesperson for the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Sipho Ngwema says her company submitted two invoices of R3 036 000 and R1 821 600 to the municipality.
"The company claimed for conducting ‘door-to-door community awareness workshops on Covid-19’ in different wards in the Mhlontlo and Port St John’s Local Municipalities, which fall under the OR Tambo District Municipality.
“The state alleges that the accused and their employees visited the wards in these municipalities, however, members of the community were asked to write down their names for Covid-19 social grants. No Covid-19 awareness workshops were conducted.”
The matter was postponed to 30 October for further investigations and to allow her to secure legal representation.
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