VICTORIA WEST – The 41-year-old mayor of the Ubuntu Local Municipality in Victoria West in the Northern Cape appeared in court charged with 28 counts following her arrest this morning.
Cheryl Jantjies made a brief appearance before the Richmond Magistrate’s Court today, 3 July, and was charged with 28 counts of contravention of Section 13A of the Pension Funds Act and contravention of the Municipal Finance Management Act.
Lieutenant Colonel Tebogo Thebe, spokesperson for the Directorate for Crime Investigations (Hawks), said she was arrested by members of the Hawks Serious Commercial Crime Investigation team.
It is alleged that from February 2020 to September 2025, Municipal Manager Synthia Levona Itumeleng (45) and Chief Financial Officer Randile Jacobs Shuping, in the performance of their duties, withheld or delayed payments of the contributions of municipal workers to third parties. This included payments to the Consolidated Retirement Pension Fund.
The delayed payments accumulated interest which was never paid despite payment reminders. This action left the Ubuntu Local Municipality with a debt of over R200 000. This debt was recently reduced to just under R100 000 in pension fund contributions, thereby contravening Section 13A of the Pension Funds Act.
During this period, Jantjies served as mayor, with responsibility for overseeing the running of the municipality to ensure it did not fall short of its financial obligations.
Jantjies was granted R2000 bail, and the matter was postponed to 20 August, where she will join her co-accused in court.
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