A Johannesburg woman accused of defrauding many people who believed they were legitimately buying property has been arrested.
Nomakhosazana Petunia Macingwane, CEO and director of Petu Estate, was arrested on Monday on allegations of fraud.
She is expected to appear in the Mamelodi magistrate’s court on Wednesday.
This is not the first time Macingwane has been arrested in connection with fraud.
In November 2023, she was arrested for an alleged housing scam and released on bail. That matter is back in court on April 1 for pre-trial.
Police on Tuesday confirmed Macingwane’s arrest.
“I can confirm a 55-year-old woman has been arrested for fraud and will appear before the Mamelodi magistrate‘s court on February 18 2026,” said Capt Tintswalo Sibeko.
She said if there are more victims they should report to their nearest police station.
Last week Sowetan exposed Macingwane to be an unregistered lawyer who has five complaints lodged against her with the Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority (PPRA).
The Legal Practice Council (LPC), which regulates legal practitioners, confirmed she is not on its database.
LPC spokesperson Kabelo Letebele said: “We have no record of a legal practitioner by the name of Nomakhosazana Petunia Macingwane. All legal practitioners [lawyers] are on our database [including conveyancers], if they have been duly admitted by a high court as required by law. If they are not on our database, they are not legal practitioners.”
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Despite this, Macingwane allegedly presented herself as a lawyer.
She admitted to Sowetan she was not registered with the LPC, saying she was only registered with the PPRA.
Letebele said acting as a lawyer without being admitted amounted to misrepresentation, which is a criminal offence.
At least three victims told Sowetan they lost their hard-earned money and never occupied the homes they paid for.
Among them is a couple who paid R700,000 into Macingwane’s bank account for a property in Bramley.
They later received a tip-off that the documents were not legitimate.
Tshegofatso Namane said she bought a house in Protea Glen for R250,000, only to later see it advertised by another seller under repossessed homes.
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Last week, Macingwane, whose offices are at Gandhi Square in the Johannesburg CBD, attempted to block Sowetan from publishing the story, sending a threatening WhatsApp claiming she had launched a court application through her lawyers, Ndlovu Attorneys.
She has denied allegations of theft.
Sowetan
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