postponement
26 March 2009
The State can confirm that it has given an indication that it intends to
apply for a postponement in this matter when the accused next appears in court
on 14 April 2009. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) would like to stress
that the decision to apply for a postponement has nothing to do with the
strength of the case. On the contrary, its case is stronger now than it has
ever been.
While the NPA was reluctant to take this decision, it is motivated by the
fact that planned preparation for the trial has been badly disrupted by a
number of applications (listed below) that have been brought by the accused and
some witnesses.
The NPA denies strongly the allegations by the accused that it has an
ulterior motive. It is a fact that the accused raised the same allegations in
his urgent application in January 2007, but soon dropped the application and
did not use the opportunity to prove his allegations in court.
In addition, the NPA took the unusual step to have evidence against the
accused reviewed by an independent panel of eminent persons who supported the
decision to prosecute.
Background
The first application was brought in early February to set aside the
subpoenas issued to certain witnesses in terms of section 205 of the Criminal
Procedure Act.
This case was eventually settled after draft court papers had been prepared.
In addition, there has been a long process to finalise the affidavits and
information requested from certain witnesses in the employ of the South African
Police Service (SAPS). To date, this has meant that not all the evidence
required has yet been supplied.
Furthermore, the accused brought an application in mid-February for
documents in possession of the State in which the court ruled against the NPA.
As the judgement raises significant constitutional and other legal issues, it
is imperative that it be appealed as the NPA believes that it has a real
prospect of success.
Thus the State had to prepare and argue an application for leave to appeal.
This was refused, but the NPA is now preparing a petition to be granted leave
to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
The parties are agreed that this process cannot be finalised by 14 April
2009. Although the accused has indicated that he will not rely on the judgment
further, he may still in future insist that he was badly advised and attempt to
do so.
While the State was preparing its application for leave to appeal, the
accused launched an application for the committal for contempt of the National
Director of Public Prosecutions, the prosecutor and investigating officer. This
application had to be dealt with but was not pursued further by the
accused.
After that, the accused also brought an application for the immediate
delivery of the documents, despite the application for leave to appeal. This
application had to be prepared and argued and the court ruled in favour of the
NPA.
Enquiries:
Tlali Tlali
Cell: 082 333 3880
Issued by: National Prosecuting Authority
26 March 2009
