Actress and television producer Sonia Mbele has flatly denied that a warrant for her arrest has been issued.
In a statement on Thursday, Mbele said she left her previous company before there were any tax discrepancies, noting that she is a victim of misconduct by her former business partners and the media.
This after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) revealed that Mbele missed her court appearance on Wednesday, and that a warrant for her arrest had been issued.
However, the NPA said the warrant for the media personality’s arrest will only be effected if Mbele misses her next court date, set for next week.
According to a statement by the NPA, the Real Housewives of Johannesburg creator and her business partners were due at the Johannesburg magistrate’s court on charges of alleged tax evasion.
However, Mbele said she left her production company, Rhosa, in 2019 and to her knowledge, the company had been closed by then.
Reads the statement: “In 2019, Sonia Mbele left Rhosa and concluded with her peers to close the company, however, the public officer and the accountant didn’t do so.
“Now she is forced to attend these proceedings without any knowledge of any company still being operational when she left and decided to close the company down.”
She said that she made her own arrangements to settle her own portion of the tax amounts owed.
“She wasn’t in contempt of court due to the assessment made. Sonia also submitted a doctor’s note to the NPA and it was taken into record.”
Mbele, Yolisa Gqunta and Rebone Sesing are expected back in court on October 5.
The NPA said Mbele and her accomplices, who are the directors of the hit reality TV show, face 42 counts of not filing company income tax from 2019 to 2022, not filing value-added tax returns from 2020 to 2022, and not filing pay-as-you-earn from 2020 until 2022.
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