Cheeky Watson has appointed one of the country’s best senior advocates to represent him in his fraud and money laundering trial.
The former EPRU president and his fellow accused Andrea Wessels, Nadia Gerwel, Mandisi Mkasa and Stephan Pretorius, appeared in court on Monday, but the case was provisionally postponed until 6 April next year. The postponement was to allow the legal teams to make representations to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
According to The Herald, Watson’s legal team had instructed advocate Francois van Zyl, of Cape Town, to represent the 63-year-old. The trial is set to start on 23 June.
Van Zyl successfully represented British honeymoon murder accused Shrien Dewani, who was later acquitted of all the charges against him without having to take the stand.
The charges against Watson and his co-accused are linked to the municipality’s IPTS (Integrated Public Transport System) funds of R208-million that were squandered.
According to court papers, close to R3-million was laundered into the bank accounts of Access Management (who were the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium operators), EP Rugby and Zeranza.
Photo: Fredlin Adriaan/The Herald
