Ex-Bop leader guilty on 102 theft charges

MAFIKENG -- Former Bophuthatswana president Lucas Mangope was yesterday found guilty on 105 charges of fraud and theft involving R5,04 million.

On the recommendations of the Skweyiya Com-mission of Inquiry, Mangope was initially accused of 208 charges of theft, fraud and contraventions of exchange control laws involving R18 million in total, but some of the charges were withdrawn.

Judge Tom Mullins found Mangope guilty in the Mafikeng High Court on 102 charges of theft involving R3,74 million, and three charges of forex fraud involving R1,3 million.

Eighty-eight charges related to the theft of royalties paid for mining the Marico Chrome Mine belonging to the Bahurutshe-Boo-Manyane tribe.

Mangope stopped depositing the royalties into the tribal account in 1979 when he became president of Bophuthatswana. He paid some of the cheques into a bank account to which only he had signing rights. He invested other cheques, saying the money could earn more interest in this manner.

The court found Mangope spent about R4,7 million between 1979 and 1994, while the tribe only got about R800000 in royalties after Bophuthatswana was incorporated into South Africa.

Judge Mullins also found Mangope guilty of an additional charge of stealing money from the tribe. Mangope deposited a cheque of R12000, which was paid to the tribe, into a bank account to which only he had signing rights.

Mangope was found guilty of building a shopping centre using about R580000 in state funds.

The judge acquitted Mangope of fraud charges relating to palace improvements