Actress-turned television producer Sonia Mbele and two of her business partners are expected to appear in the Johannesburg magistrate’s court for alleged tax evasion.
Mbele, Yolisa Gqunta and Rebone Sesing were expected to appear in the same court for contravening the Tax Administration Act last week but the matter was postponed as Mbele was not available due to illness.
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said a warrant of arrest was applied but held back until Thursday after Meble stated that she was sick.
“Sonia Mbele submitted a medical certificate stating that she is booked off sick until 03 October 2023,” said Mjonondwane in statement.
The trio are directors of The Real Housewives of South Africa (Pty) Ltd.
The NPA did not divulge the amounts owed by the trio, only stating that they are facing 42 counts of not filing company income tax since 2019.
“The Real Housewives of South Africa are facing 42 counts of not filling company income tax from 2019 to 2022, not filing their Value Added Tax (VAT) returns from 2020 to 2022 and also not filing their Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE) from 2020 until 2022,” the NPA said.
The Blood and Water actress released a media statement last week, denying any wrongdoing, stating that she was a victim of misconduct by her business partners.
Sonia Mbele said she left her production company, Rhosa, in 2019 and to her knowledge, the company was closed by then.
The statement read: “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.”
Sonia Mbele added that she made her own arrangements to settle her own portion of the tax amounts owed.
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