DA welcomes reinstatement of Mdluli charges

13 March 2015

The DA welcomes the reinstatement of some of the charges against disgraced Crime Intelligence Head, Richard Mdluli, by the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Mxolisi Nxasana.

This comes after the Supreme Court of Appeal ruling this afternoon to reinstate charges against Mdluli after they had been dropped. The Court also stated that "action should be taken against the NPA's deputy head Nomgcobo Jiba, and its serious commercial crimes unit head advocate Lawrence Mwrebi, for their part in dropping charges against him."

The NPA will be pursuing Mdluli for fraud and corruption while still the active head of the South African Police Service (SAPS) Crime Intelligence unit.

The Mdluli saga has compromised the integrity of a number of key state institutions and has left the reputation of the National Prosecuting Authority in tatters.

These charges have already been evaluated by several very experienced prosecutors, the High Court, and now the Supreme Court of Appeal, all of whom have found there to be sufficient evidence to constitute a prima faciecase against Mdluli and others.

This latest development may signal the first steps in the right direction in settling the Mdluli debacle once and for all. However, the NPA, under Nxasana's baton, may still have obstacles to overcome in pursuit of a prosecution of Mdluli.

Indeed President Jacob Zuma has launched, what appears to be, a baseless inquiry into the fitness of Nxasana when in fact the terms of reference do not instruct an investigation into individuals that the Democratic Alliance (DA) believes are the true agents of decay at the NPA. These include Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions, Nomgcobo Jiba, and Commercial Crimes Head, Lawrence Mwrebi.

As such, I will be appealing once again to the President and Minister of Justice, Mike Masutha, urging them to include Jiba and Mwrebi in the terms of reference of the Nxasana probe. Failing that I will demand the exact reasons for why they have been absolved from all accountability following a slew of serious indictments on their conduct as senior officials of our criminal justice system.

Is it because they were deployed to the NPA to protect President Zuma and his close network? This can be the only logical conclusion for not investigating them. South Africans need answers.

In any event, the DA commends the current NDPP for resisting political pressure and urges Mr Nxasana to continue in this vein starting with the reinstatement of the charges against Mdluli despite the malicious "witchhunt" of an inquiry President Zuma has launched.

Statement issued by Glynnis Breytenbach MP, DA Shadow Minister of Justice, March 13 2015

Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter