SOUTH AFRICA: The fraud trial of Ms Winnie Madikizela-Mandela resumed yesterday with a state witness describing a bogus loan scheme that could send Nelson Mandela's flamboyant ex-wife to jail.
The firebrand leader of the women's wing of the ruling African National Congress -- and her co-accused, broker Mr Addy Moolman -- are facing 85 charges of fraud and theft involving nearly one million rand (€124,000).
Ms Madikizela-Mandela and Mr Moolman are suspects in what prosecutors say was a scheme involving the use of her signature to obtain bank loans fraudulently and the theft of money in a funeral policy scam.
The two accused have pleaded not guilty to the 60 charges of fraud and 25 of theft. If convicted on all the charges, they could receive a maximum of 15 years in prison.
State witness Ms Maditaba Raphahla, a widowed nurse and mother of four children, told the court she heard of the loan scheme through a pamphlet distributed at her Soweto hospital.
It said applications could be made at ANC headquarters, where she met Mr Moolman in September 2000 and signed a blank loan application under his guidance.
"I asked him how can I sign this document when it is blank and he said because you need the money," said Ms Raphahla, who received a 15,000 rand (€1,858) loan.
Prosecutors expect the trial to continue for two more weeks.