Johannesburg - The civic organisation Defend Our Democracy has criticised the state for failing to prosecute the first State Capture case, Nulane Investment, which collapsed.
On Friday, the High Court of South Africa, Free State Division, Bloemfontein, granted the application in terms of Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act brought by the accused in the Nulane Investment R24.9-million fraud and money laundering matter.
Dr Limakatso Moorosi was acquitted.
The decision means that the likes of Gupta associate Iqbal Sharma, who was accused of corruption, are being released.
DOD spokesperson Nonkululeko Mntambo, speaking in an interview with one of the broadcasters, said Judge Nompumelelo Gusha made it quite clear what the failures had been, and it was the treatment of the case by the NPA. From what the country was told in 2019, this was a watertight case.
‘’What transpired post-fact is something that is much less than what we were told, and if the loopholes, the carelessness, and the inefficiency of the NPA and the state were laid bare, we would sit in this position right now because of exactly that,’’ said Mntambo.
She said it is up to the NPA to tell the country how this went so absolutely wrong and what the plan is moving forward.
Section 174 states that an accused may be discharged at the close of the case for prosecution: ‘’If, at the close of the case for prosecution at any trial, the court is of the opinion that there is no evidence that the accused committed the offence referred to in the charge or any offence of which he may be convicted on the charge, it may return a verdict of not guilty’’.
‘’We will be reflecting on the judgment with a view to determining legal avenues to explore. The outcome of this case has no bearing on our ability to prosecute other state capture cases. We remain resolute in our commitment and ability to vigorously prosecute those responsible for state capture and corruption,’’ said Investigating Director Advocate Andrea Johnson.
The NPA hopes that the legislative process to make the ID a permanent entity with expanded criminal investigative powers will be finalised expeditiously.
Mntambo said they see this as a general lack of accountability and perhaps even a lack of consequence.
‘’It cannot be that a case of this magnitude is lost, and there is this attitude around it. There is a need to re-capitalise the NPA, but it might not rest in its people but in its accountability structures and in its processes to hold people accountable for the job that they need to do.’’
‘’Because at the point where an investigation is done so sloppy that you can't even get original copies, it can't be that such a case can be left unaccounted for, not only within the NPA but even to us, the citizens, who are supposed to be protected by the NPA,’’ she said.
The Star