THANGO WROTE ON E50M PAPERS - EXPERT

MBABANE – The recalled handwriting expert has deduced that Sebenzile Thango wrote on the documents containing allegedly forged cheques when claiming payment during the E50 million capacity building exercise.

Lawrence Tebogo Mashabela, who was a witness in the matter, was re-called at the instance of the Crown to give clarity as to who the handwriting actually belonged to. This was after it was brought to the attention of the court that in Mashabela’s report, Thango and Thembani Simelane were alleged to have written on the documents. It was during re-examination of Simelane by her attorney, Sabelo Bhembe, that more attention was paid to the batch as a whole and comparisons of the handwritings were made.

It was discovered that the handwriting on the space of payee dispatch and address and on the space of reasons for payment belonged to one and the same person.

Last week, the Crown filed an urgent application to recall Mashabela to give clarity in this aspect and yesterday he alleged that the handwriting in question belonged to Thango.

Mashabela, who boasts a 20-year experience in the field, told the court that the error in his report was a typographical one. He said it was not of his making, but an error on the part of his secretary. “It is not the finding that I have done wrongly, but it was a typing error and I have rectified the error in my report today. The conclusion is still the same,” said Mashabela.

The Crown wrote to Mashabela, requesting him to revisit his report dated June 5, 2013, particularly to pay attention to two paragraphs in the report. Simelane disputed the evidence that the handwriting in the space requiring reasons for payment or refund to be filled in belonged to her.

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