Fraud charges against former rail CEO dropped

Mbabane – Fraud charges against former CEO of Swaziland Railways, Gideon Mahlalela, have been dropped, the Swazi press has reported. Mahlalela, who was also president of the Southern African Railway Association (Sara), was arrested in January for defrauding government of nearly R3m and engaging in other illegal activities while running the railway company prior to his retirement in 2012. Mahlalela allegedly approved at greatly reduced prices for the company’s senior staff the sale of houses built at government expense for railway employees. He reportedly purchased one house in Mbabane for himself. Amongst the three counts on his charge sheet, Mahlalela was accused of using insider’s knowledge while serving on the board of private corporations like African Alliance to influence decisions made by those boards, while withholding information of conflict of interests and the personal benefits he stood to gain. After Mahlalela reportedly met in private with Mbabane Magistrate Ndumiso Shongwe, the case against him was struck from the Magistrates Court rolls. No explanation was offered as to why the case was stopped from going to trial.