Johannes Mohlala, the former municipal manager of Fetakgomo Tubatse, has been sentenced for his involvement in the VBS heist. On 6 November, the North Gauteng High Court sentenced him to five years in prison, with the sentence suspended for five years, provided he commits no similar offences during that period. He was also ordered to pay R100,000 to the curator of VBS Mutual Bank. Mohlala had pleaded guilty to violating the Municipal Finance Management Act and was sentenced the same day.
Mohlala is the first accused in one of the divisions of the larger VBS investigation. His co-accused, Tumelo Ratau, the former chief financial officer of Fetakgomo Tubatse Municipality, is facing arrest after failing to appear in court. A warrant for Ratau’s arrest has been issued, and his case was postponed to 18 November to address the forfeiture of his bail. Ratau’s failure to appear in court has raised concerns over his intentions to evade justice.
The third accused, Keaobaka Remigious Kgatitsoe, was sentenced in 2022 to five years’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years. Kgatitsoe, along with Mohlala and Ratau, was arrested in November 2021 on charges related to the illegal investment of municipal funds in VBS. The investigation showed that Fetakgomo Tubatse Municipality invested R230 million in VBS Mutual Bank between 2016 and 2018. All three are still facing charges of corruption and money laundering related to the scandal.
