The fight over the estate of Ladysmith Black Mambazo founder is far from over. ZiMoja has since established that a woman was arrested for allegedly forging the will of Joseph Shabalala, the late founder of the Grammy award winning group. Last week, ZiMoja reported that Shabalala's eldest son, Nkosinathi Shabalala, discovered that someone from his family allegedly forged his father's signature in his will.

SUSPECT WORKED CLOSELY WITH FAMILY 

Nkosinathi, who is not part of the acappella group that has amassed international awards, raised the red flag on his father's will and estate. Nkosinathi said the suspect is not a family member but an outsider whom he is accusing of acting in collusion with one or more family members from the group. Nkosinathi also said: "The suspect was released from custody to allow for further investigations and compliance with the prosecutor's instructions." He added that he saw the discrepancies from his father's resignation letter, which was dated 2021, while the late musician passed away in February 2020. 

THE ESTATE HAS NOT BEEN DIVIDED

He told his brothers, who are part of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, about the possibility of fraud committed in their father's name. "They told me to handle the matter and I told them I'm going to open a fraud case with the police," said Nkosinathi. Because of the alleged fraud on Shabalala's will, his estate has not yet been winded up until the matter is finalised in court. Nkosinathi has not mentioned what the will entails or who has been excluded from the will until the criminal case is finalised. KZN police spokesperson Colonel Robert Netshiunda confirmed that a 40-year-old woman was arrested in Durban last year and charged with fraud for allegedly forging Shabalala's signature. Netshiunda said the suspect has since appeared at the Durban Magistrate's Court and the criminal case is ongoing.