Johannesburg - Two prominent leaders of the Foundation for
African Business and Consumer Services (Fabcos) face warrants of arrest.
Fabcos president Mxolisi Zwane and Fabcos Enterprise chief
executive Phillip Usiba are charged with stealing two trucks belonging to a
stokvel affiliated to the black business organisation.
The alleged theft happened on June 7.
The two leaders laughed off the claims as bogus and
dismissed the complainant.
The warrants of arrest – copies of which are in the
possession of City Press – were issued by the Thohoyandou Police Station.
Zwane, an attorney, is one of the individuals instrumental
in steering organised black business away from Business Unity SA to form the
Black Business Council.
The charges against Zwane and Usiba were laid by Ducksy
Mkhondo on behalf of a company called Tshulika, of which Mkhondo is a board
member.
Mkhondo said Tshulika belonged to a stokvel run by Fabcos
members in Limpopo.
Mkhondo is a former general secretary of Fabcos. Ever since
Mkhondo was booted out of the position early last year, he has been attempting
to topple Zwane.
Mkhondo said this week that the trucks were operating at a
stone crusher plant owned by Fabcos in Thohoyandou and they were sold
unlawfully.
“When Fabcos sold the stone crusher plant, they also sold
the trucks. This means they stole the trucks because they had no right to sell
them. The trucks belong to Tshulika, not Fabcos,” said Mkhondo.
Thohoyandou Police Station spokesperson Mashudu Malelo
confirmed that the warrants of arrest existed.
“We have been trying to get them to come to Thohoyandou to
answer the allegations levelled against them,” said Malelo.
“When we called Zwane and Usiba, they told us that they
couldn’t come to the police station because they were attending a meeting in
Mpumalanga,” said Malelo.
“We later called them again and they said they couldn’t come
because they were attending a meeting in KwaZulu-Natal.”
Malelo said the warrants meant that any police officer who
spotted Zwane and Usiba should arrest them immediately.
He said the warrants did not necessarily mean that the two
were guilty. However, they were wanted for questioning.
Zwane, who said he also spoke for Usiba, said the police
officers who had leaked the warrants of arrest were unscrupulous. He also
disputed the legitimacy of the warrants.
“If there are indeed warrants of arrest, the police must
come to Fabcos offices to execute them. I am always at our offices,” said
Zwane.
“What kind of police officers first go to the media to
inform them about the warrants, instead of arresting me first?
“The police are supposed to first arrest me and then hold a
press conference about the arrest, not vice versa.”
Zwane said he had never been approached or called by the
police to inform him about the warrant.
“They say I stole a truck. Do they know where I was on June
7?” he asked.
Zwane accused Mkhondo of being hellbent on trumping up
baseless accusations with the aim of embarrassing Fabcos office bearers.
“This Mkhondo is not a member of Fabcos and he was ordered
by the court on October 20 to stop saying that he was a Fabcos office bearer.
If he continues doing that, he will be violating the court
order and he will be arrested,” said Zwane.
He said that the trucks were assets of Fabcos and that
Mkhondo had no right to lay the criminal charges.
“Fabcos bought the trucks and they still belong to Fabcos.
The trucks are not mine. Whether I am the president of Fabcos or not, the
trucks will still belong to Fabcos,” he said.
Fabcos is a membership-based organisation promoting the
development of black business in South Africa.
- City Press