Joburg ‘property lawyer’ arrested for fraud

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.

“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).

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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.” READ|Protea Glen ‘property scam’ leaves family devastated

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