A road accident victim allegedly fleeced of millions of rand by his attorney, died before seeing justice served.
Khumshile Derrick Mandita, who was left wheelchair-bound after a serious accident, was one of the complainants in the case against former University of Fort Hare lecturer and attorney Manfred Chinamasa, who is standing trial in the East London Specialised Commercial Crimes Court.
Chinamasa is accused of swindling six clients out of more than R5m.
Mandita, the fifth complainant, died in July 2025 at the age of 64.
On Tuesday, his written statement to the police was read into the court record.
Two years ago, Mandita spoke outside the East London Magistrate’s Court after Chinamasa’s appearance, saying he had hoped to use his Road Accident Fund (RAF) payout to improve his life, including building a home suited to his needs.
He said adapting to a life of disability was expensive.
“I want justice to be served … I wanted to build a house that would accommodate my situation. The money would make my life easier.”
I want justice to be served … I wanted to build a house that would accommodate my situation. The money would make my life easier.
Mandita never lived to receive the rest of the money he said was due to him.
In his statement, read out by state prosecutor Siphamandla Ngxokolo, Mandita said he had been waiting for years for payment, while Chinamasa repeatedly told him the RAF had not yet paid.
He had been injured in a motor vehicle accident on April 25 1996 in eMaxesibeni and was later medically boarded by his employer, Telkom.
He said that in 2018 he received more than R1.1m after Chinamasa had taken his share. This was for general damages.
“A further claim for loss of income was lodged, and the RAF later paid out more than R2.6m.”
He said he never received any of that money.
“On [February 25 2022], I opted to visit the offices of the Road Accident Fund to make inquiries as it had been too long waiting for the payment.
“To my surprise, I was notified that an amount of R2,630,185,00 was paid to Mr Chinamasa’s law firm account on 22/01/2021.
“The developments I received from the RAF were shocking as I believed and trusted Chinamasa when he was telling me that he was waiting for the RAF to make the payment, whereas in actual fact he received the funds a year ago.
“On receiving the news from the RAF, I confronted Mr Chinamasa and he changed his tune when I advised him that I’m aware that my funds were paid to him by the RAF.
“He apologised and said he would pay my money on March 15 2022, which he never did.
“He claimed that the funds were consumed by taxes, his office rental bills, among other things. I believe that my funds have nothing to do with his life expenditures.
“With all being said, [I] requested a police investigation in this matter as Mr Chinamasa has defrauded or stolen funds that are due to me from the Road Accident Fund,” Mandita said.
Earlier in the trial, former boxing champion Simphiwe Vetyeka testified that he was also still owed money by Chinamasa.
Vetyeka, 45, said his boxing career ended after he was injured in a hit-and-run accident in East London on April 13 2018.
He employed Chinamasa to lodge a claim with the RAF. The matter was settled in 2021, and Vetyeka was allegedly awarded more than R3.2m.
The charge sheet states that Chinamasa only transferred R1m and allegedly never paid the balance.
Vetyeka testified that he was introduced to Chinamasa by a friend, Xolani Ngcaka, while he was in hospital.
“I agreed that Chinamasa should proceed with the claim because I trusted this friend of mine,” he said.
He said he later went to the RAF offices to make inquiries and was shown proof that the money had already been paid into Chinamasa’s trust account.
“The proof showed over R3.2m was paid to him. I took a picture of this proof and sent it to Chinamasa and told him that I’ve seen the proof that money was paid to his trust account and he asked that I quickly go to his office.”
Vetyeka said he later opened a case against Chinamasa.
“To even get the R1m was because I had gone to another attorney to report him and the attorney wrote him an email and that is when he made the payment.
“He also begged me to withdraw the complaint.”
Chinamasa is expected back in court on February 16.
Daily Dispatch
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