Former acting CEO of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) Rail division, Mthuthuzeli Swartz, is on trial for fraud in Port Elizabeth. Archive photo: Joseph Chirume
6 June 2019
The case against Mthuthuzeli Swartz and Sayed Nadhir Mahuideen was postponed until 5 August to allow the defence time to prepare against further charges brought by the state.
Swartz and Mahuideen appeared for the fourth time in the Port Elizabeth Commercial Crime Court on Thursday. They are charged with fraud, theft and money laundering. Their bail of R2,000 each was extended.
Swartz used to be Acting CEO of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (PRASA) Rail division while Mahuideen is a Cape Town based businessman.
They are accused of defrauding a businessman of R1.5 million after they allegedly misrepresented that they had the authority to sell him Transnet railway lines between Elliot and Maclear in the Eastern Cape.
Their stand-in lawyer (whose name GroundUp was unable to obtain) said the state wanted to bring more charges against Swartz.
Swartz refused to divulge details about the new charges but said he was not happy with the way Groundup was reporting his case.
“I see you guys are quiet about Lindikhaya Zide, Pearl Munthali and Chris Mbatha’s suspensions as well. Yet these are senior Group Executives. Zide was Group CEO and Mbatha was Acting CEO of Prasa Rail. These are the big fish and yet you target me. What logical explanation could there be? Please enlighten me,” wrote Swartz in a text message.
But in contrast to Swartz, the three executives he mentioned have not been charged nor appeared in court. Not yet anyway.