Bonang ‘positive’ on tax charges

TV star and businesswoman Bonang Matheba was all smiles as she left the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court where she appeared on tax fraud allegations on Wednesday.

Matheba said she felt positive and that “life is good”.

The TV personality has been charged for allegedly not paying personal tax from 2008 to 2017 and company tax from 2014 to 2017.

Her lawyer, Charl Coetzee, told the court the star’s team was in the process of making representations to the state.

He said it would complete these representations within the next 12 days and asked for a further postponement of the matter until November 27. The request was granted. Matheba, who was flanked by her manager, Davin Phillips, and her stepfather, Joe Mokoena, looked relaxed in a pair of jeans‚ a black shirt and sunglasses.

She took instructions from her lawyer several times before proceedings started.

Outside the court, Matheba breezed past waiting journalists and, when asked how she felt, said she was “positive”. “Life is good‚” she said. Phillips said the matter had mostly been resolved and Matheba was working with a great team to fix it.

“It is settled in some respects, but we feel it will be inappropriate to comment further at this stage. She has appointed the right team to meet Sars to resolve this.

“Bonang is a law-abiding citizen and this is a matter she takes very seriously. She is positive that it will be resolved soon. We are all positive.”

Phillips would not be drawn into commenting on the amount owed by Matheba.

Coetzee also declined to comment on whether the amount would be settled at her next court appearance.

Matheba missed a previous appearance on September 27, with her legal team arguing that she was not able to attend as she had been invited abroad and giving a short description of her itinerary.

At the time‚ Matheba’s management said she would comply with Sars’ directives.

“The recent inquiry came as a surprise to Ms Matheba.