Charges against Gugulethu siblings in 'Gums' case withdrawn amid fraud allegations
Image: Mandilakhe Tshwete
The State has provisionally withdrawn charges against Gugulethu siblings, who were accused of fraud and money laundering following the murder of actor David 'Gums' Manuel.
Wanda and his sister Sindiswa Mbele briefly appeared in the Athlone Magistrate's Court on Wednesday morning, months after being arrested in connection with the case.
The charges were withdrawn pending further investigation.
Manuel, best known for his role in 'Noem My Skollie', was shot and killed alongside his best friend Alfonso Fisher at his Gugulethu home on October 8, 2024.
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Play
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
-:-
Loaded :
0%
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque
Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
Advertisement
Video Player is loading.
Play Video
Play
Unmute
Current Time
0:00
/
Duration
-:-
Loaded :
0%
Stream Type LIVE
Seek to live, currently behind live
LIVE
Remaining Time
-
0:00
This is a modal window.
Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window.
Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan
Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque
Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps
Reset
restore all settings to the default values Done
Close Modal Dialog
End of dialog window.
Next
Stay
Close ✕
Sindiswa Mbele had just heard that the charges of fraud and money laundering have been withdrawn after an actor was killed in his Gugulethu home in 2024.
Image: Mandilakhe Tshwete
The Mbele siblings, who live across the road from the victim's house, were initially linked to the double murder.
However, they were only charged with fraud and money laundering after allegedly altering a funeral policy taken out on Manuel shortly before his death.
During Wednesday's proceedings, the State prosecutor informed the court: 'The investigating officer has not addressed some of the queries that I had. The matter is therefore provisionally withdrawn until the investigation is concluded.'
The decision sparked visible relief for the accused and their loved ones.
Outside court, Sindiswa's partner said: 'What a relief! We had been waiting for a long time for this day to come. We expected the matter to be withdrawn, but the State has been investigating. I'm 100% sure that they will not be called back into court for this case, even next year, the State will say the investigation is pending. I'm telling the entire country that the case has been withdrawn.'
At the time of the withdrawal, both Wanda and Sindiswa were out on R800 bail.
According to the State, the pair took out life insurance policies on three individuals unrelated to them.
'They are charged with fraud and money laundering in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act 121 of 1998 (POCA). It is alleged that the accused took out a life policy for three people, who are in no way related to them. On October 8, one of the insured (persons) was fired at, in the process, two people were killed,' the State prosecutor said during their first appearance.
Following Manuel's death, Wanda allegedly claimed R60,000, while Sindiswa received R50,000 from the policies.
The siblings are also accused of using R15,000 of that money to purchase furniture at a Bradlows store.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Herald
17-07-2025
- The Herald
Detectives probe fatal triple shooting in Gugulethu
Police are investigating a shooting spree that left three men dead and two injured at a home in Gugulethu, Cape Town. The provincial serious and violent crime unit is investigating the murders and appealing to the public to come forward with information that could help solve the case. Police spokesperson Col Andrè Traut said police responded to reports of a shooting at 11pm on Wednesday in Moletsane Street, New Crossroads. 'On arrival at the scene officers discovered the bodies of three men with gunshot wounds. Two other male victims had also sustained gunshot wounds and had been transported to a medical facility,' said Traut. 'Preliminary information indicates four armed suspects opened fire on the victims before fleeing with cellular telephones and a firearm belonging to one victim.' The five victims were believed to be in their 30s. Anyone with information that could help detectives is urged to contact Crime Stop on 08600-10111 or to use the MySAPS app. TimesLIVE
IOL News
16-07-2025
- IOL News
Faith and civic leaders unite to confront Cape Flats gun violence crisis
Faith leaders and activists pledge to reclaim streets from gang violence, led by moral regeneration and grassroots organising. Image: Mandilakhe Tshwete In response to a deadly surge of shootings across Cape Town, interfaith leaders and civic organisations have vowed to lead a grassroots moral and structural regeneration campaign to address what they describe as a 'constitutional, moral and humanitarian emergency'. The gathering, convened by the Muslim Judicial Council (MJC), the Cape Crime Crisis Coalition (CCCC), the Western Cape Council of Churches (WCCC), and other civil society partners, followed a wave of gun violence that left numerous people dead in recent weeks. MJC President Sheikh Riad Fataar said the gathering was prompted by the deteriorating security crisis across the Cape Flats and broader Western Cape. 'In line with our earlier statement on 7 July, where we condemned the proliferation of organised criminal activity, the circulation of illicit arms and drugs, and the resultant violation of constitutional rights to life, security and dignity, the MJC has now engaged directly with state authorities in an urgent bid to arrest the deepening spiral of social decay,' Fataar said. He confirmed that a high-level engagement was held at the MJC offices with South African Police Services (SAPS) regional commissioner Lieutenant General Thembisile Patekile, senior SAPS management, and Members of Parliament from the police oversight committee. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Fataar said the MJC 'welcomed the frank and constructive tone of the dialogue' and extended appreciation to those 'who recognised the gravity of the moment'. He reiterated that the unchecked violence was not just a policing crisis, but 'a moral, constitutional and humanitarian emergency'. 'As articulated in Section 72 of the Constitution, the state bears a positive and non-negotiable duty to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights of all persons, especially the most vulnerable.' He added: 'What we see is not only the consequence of gang warfare, but the result of decades-long structural abandonment and institutional erosion. The right to life, dignity, and safety is not aspirational; it is constitutional. When that right is systematically denied, we are compelled by faith and law to act with urgency, clarity and unity.' Cape Crime Crisis Coalition (CCCC) founder Dr Llewellyn MacMaster warned that society must adopt 'multi-focal lenses' when analysing the crisis. 'A lot of the time, we're restricted. Sometimes we must zoom in on the details, but also widen our lens to see the national and international systemic issues. We are the crisis committee, but we must ask: Why are we still in a crisis?' he said. MacMaster called on religious institutions to reclaim their role in addressing what he termed a deep moral and ethical collapse in South African society. 'We've handed over the responsibility for moral regeneration to the government. Remember the last time it was led, it was under Jacob Zuma. We must take back that responsibility. We need courageous leadership, leaders who are not seduced by photo ops with politicians. If we think our role is to take pictures at the table, we are fooling ourselves.' He urged collaboration across faith groups, even without state funding or resources. 'We are building this movement every day without money. But we must reach consensus and act. As the African proverb goes: 'If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.'' Community leader Dean Ramjoomia issued a challenge to faith groups, calling for inward accountability: 'You talk about crime and criminality, but are you dealing with the criminal in your home? Our society is psychosocially dysfunctional. It's easier to deal with a criminal than with the brokenness that produces them.' Ramjoomia also pointed to overlooked trauma among men: 'More men are victims of sexual violence than we admit. But we only see men as perpetrators and villains. There is no healing for the brokenness of men in this society.' Philippi-based leader Nandi Vangqa-Mgijima called for deepened political education and mobilisation among the working class, particularly around the historical roots of gangsterism. 'Gangsterism was a system created by the apartheid government. But it seems now that this very system is being reinvented under the democratic dispensation. We need to understand these root causes, the socioeconomic ills that continue to confront our communities.' She criticised the government's use of commissions of inquiry as ineffectual and wasteful: 'They are often useless and drain resources that should be going to the very communities that suffer most. We need to be informed when we make our demands, not symbolic, but strategic.' Former Western Cape top police officer Jeremy Vearey stressed that the faith sector must now take full leadership of the country's moral regeneration agenda, and not simply play a supporting role to the state. 'The religious community is no longer leaving moral regeneration to the state, policing, or spiral crime prevention programmes,' said Vearey. 'They've now come to the point where they are leading; they've decided to lead their campaign for regeneration.' But he cautioned that this shift must come with state support. Vearey said the collective energy of interfaith leaders, civic groups, and community organisers must now be redirected back into neighbourhoods. The meeting concluded with a renewed commitment from faith and civic leaders to take charge of the moral regeneration agenda, not just as support to state efforts, but as a leading force.
IOL News
10-07-2025
- IOL News
Gugulethu siblings cleared of charges in David Manuel's funeral policy murder case
Wanda Mbele (white pants) leaves court after hearing that his fraud and money laundering cases have been withdrawn. Image: Mandilakhe Tshwete/Independent Newspapers The State has provisionally dropped charges against the Gugulethu siblings, Wanda and Sindiswa Mbele, who were accused of fraud and money laundering in connection with the murder of actor David 'Gums' Manuel. Wanda Mbele and his sister Sindiswa Mbele briefly appeared in the Athlone Magistrate's Court on Wednesday, months after being arrested in connection with the case. The charges were withdrawn pending further investigation. Manuel, best known for his role in "Noem My Skollie", was shot and killed alongside his best friend Alfonso Fisher at his Gugulethu home on October 8, 2024. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ The Mbele siblings, who live across the road from the victim's house, were initially linked to the double murder. However, they were only charged with fraud and money laundering after allegedly altering a funeral policy taken out on Manuel shortly before his death. During Wednesday's proceedings, the State prosecutor informed the court: 'The investigating officer has not addressed some of the queries that I had. The matter is therefore provisionally withdrawn until the investigation is concluded.' The decision sparked visible relief for the accused and their loved ones. Award-winning actor, David 'Gums' Manuel, was shot and killed in Gugulethu. Image: File Outside court, Sindiswa's partner said: 'What a relief. We had been waiting for a long time for this day to come. We expected the matter to be withdrawn, but the State has been investigating. I'm 100% sure that they will not be called back into court for this case, even next year, the State will say the investigation is pending. I'm telling the entire country that the case has been withdrawn.' At the time of the withdrawal, both Wanda and Sindiswa were out on R800 bail. According to the State, the pair took out life insurance policies on three individuals. 'They are charged with fraud and money laundering in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act 121 of 1998 (POCA). It is alleged that the accused took out a life policy for three people, who are in no way related to them. On October 8, one of the insured (persons) was fired at, in the process, two people were killed,' the State prosecutor said during their first appearance. Following Manuel's death, Wanda allegedly claimed R60 000, while Sindiswa received R50 000 from the policies. The siblings are also accused of using R15 000 of that money to purchase furniture at a Bradlows store.
