GAUTENG – Convicted Advocate Azwitamisi Abraham Mulaudzi appeared in the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday, 22 February 2023 for sentencing proceedings, the matter was however postponed to 19 April 2023.
Mulaudzi was an Advocate at the office of the Director of Public Prosecution in Johannesburg. He was appointed as treasurer of the Society of State Advocates and Prosecutors of South Africa (SSAPSA) on 19 May 2017. His duties entailed all SSAPSA payments and managing the bank account. This also included submissions of accounting records, receipts and proof of payments for auditing at least once a year.
During an Annual General Meeting (AGM) of 2018, Mulaudzi failed to produce the financial statements, he gave an excuse that Auditors were busy with the financial statements. Mulaudzi repeated the same excuse in the AGM of 2019.
The Department of Labour requested the audited financial statements of the SSAPSA for the period of 2018 to 2019. Unauthorised transactions amounting to just under R300 000 were flagged.
Cases of fraud and theft were registered at Johannesburg Central police station in February 2021, and assigned to the Hawks’ Serious Corruption Investigation team. On 14 September 2021, Mulaudzi was arrested on a warrant. He consequently pleaded guilty on 15 June 2022.