The Specialised Commercial Crimes Court sitting in Palm Ridge has ordered that the corruption trial against advocate Timothy Ramabulana proceed after the state successfully applied for an investigation into delays in the matter.
The application was brought in terms of Section 342A of the Criminal Procedure Act (CPA), which allows courts to investigate unreasonable delays in criminal proceedings.
The court ruled infavorr of the National Prosecuting Authority’s Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) and postponed the matter to 20 August 2026 for trial on a running roll.
According to the NPA, the application followed several postponements since Ramabulana’s first court appearance on 17 April 2024. The state argued that the accused had filed numerous applications that contributed to delays in the matter.
Ramabulana faces 12 charges, including fraud, money laundering, acquisition or use of proceeds of unlawful activities, and contravention of the Legal Practice Act.
The charges stem from five paymetotalingling approximatR57,000 000 that were allegedly deposited into his personal bank account between January 2020 and November 2021.
The funds were allegedly transferred from Isimbali Trading and Projects (Pty) Ltd, a company linked to Kishene Chetty and Salamina Khoza.
The company forms part of a separate criminal case in which Chetty, Khoza and several members of the South African Police Service are facing corruption charges related to an allegedly irregular tender awarded for the branding of police vehicles.
The NPA alleges that Ramabulana, in his capacity as an advocate, was not entitled to receive payments from Isimbali Trading and Projects because he ought to have known that the funds wproceed of unlawful activities.
According to the prosecution, the payments were allegedly made for legal representation provided to some of the accused in the SAPS corruption matter. The State further alleges that Ramabulana misrepresented that he had been instructed by a law firm to represent the accused.
The NPA contends that this conduct contravened the Legal Practice Act, which prohibits advocates from accepting fees, commissions, or rewards without proper instructions from an attorney and without holding a valid Fidelity Fund Certificate.
The matter is expected to resume on 20 August 2026, when the trial is set to commence.
