Jozi FM chair granted bail in R24m lottery fraud case
Rapitse Montsho, a media consultant who has served on the Jozi FM board since 2012, faces questions over two tranches of funds.
South Africa.- Rapitse Montsho, Board Chairperson of Jozi FM, has been granted bail by the Orlando Magistrates’ Court on November 28 following his arrest on fraud and theft charges tied to over R24m (€1.21m) in National Lotteries Commission grants.
The court initially remanded Montsho in custody after his first appearance earlier that week but has now granted him bail of R10,000 (€503) following a formal bail hearing. The case has also been adjourned to January 20, 2026, for further investigation by the police and the Special Investigating Unit.
Montsho, 62, a media consultant who has served on the Jozi FM board since 2012, faces questions over two tranches of funds: R12m (€604,000) awarded in August 2013 and another R12m (€604,000) in April 2014. These payments went to the Soweto Media Resource Centre, the non-profit organisation running the station, for a planned multimedia centre in Soweto’s Jabulani Precinct. However, no such facility exists today.
Montsho claims the funds were used to support a documentary project, titled “Freedom Was Not Free”, which featured interviews with veterans of the liberation struggle and related costs like travel and equipment over three years.
Station CEO Dr Mpho Mhlongo, who joined Jozi FM in 2012 and serves as one of three signatories on the grant account, filed the criminal complaint after raising concerns internally for years. He said in a statement in October: “We have no records showing where the money went, and the centre we were promised never came.”
This case forms part of the SIU’s investigation into lottery grants, which includes additional payments totalling over R34m (€1.71m) made to Jozi FM between 2013 and 2016. Last month, Toby Chance, a Democratic Alliance MP, called for greater transparency in the matter. He said: “Lottery players deserve to know their contributions build real projects for communities like Soweto, not leave families waiting a decade for answers.”
