Twenty-four prosecutors prosecuted

2011-08-25 22:25

Durban – Twenty-four prosecutors are being prosecuted for various crimes including murder and accepting bribes, the National Prosecuting Authority said on Thursday.

“We have 24 prosecutors who are being prosecuted. They face different [charges over] crimes such as murder and corruption,” said NPA national director Menzi Simelane.

Speaking at a lecture at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s Howard College Campus, Simelane said it was sad that their own people were being prosecuted.

However he stressed that they represented a small number as there were over 400 prosecutors in South Africa.

He said prosecutors were being offered money by people facing criminal charges. “People offer you what you cannot afford. The amounts get higher when sophisticated people are involved,” he said.

The prosecutors were not only offered money but also expensive things such as cars and clothes.

NPA’s conviction rate very high

The lecture centred mainly on advising law students to do their work with integrity and to be ethical when they became lawyers and prosecutors.

The NPA’s conviction rate was very high, he said.

His comments came after KwaZulu-Natal SA Communist Party leader Themba Mthembu called for Simelane to be redeployed.

Mthembu reportedly said the record of the NPA had deteriorated into a situation far worse than that of Simelane’s predecessors.

Mthembu argued that since Simelane’s appointment, the NPA had failed to secure any major convictions and that it was in the media for the wrong reasons.

Responding to the accusations, Simelane said he did not agree with the SACP.

High profile cases

“I am happy that they have shown interest in what we do but I don’t agree with what they have said.”

The NPA had concluded many high profile cases, and he would welcome suggestions from anybody including the SACP.

Simelane said the KwaZulu-Natal head of the Asset Forfeiture Unit, Knorx Molelle, would continue to be on suspension until he was satisfied that the allegations against him had been dealt with properly.

“We will make sure that the matter is dealt with. His suspension relates to the Intaka case. There were things that I was not satisfied with,” he said.

The Intaka corruption case involves high profile personalities including KwaZulu-Natal legislature speaker Peggy Nkonyeni, the province’s Economic Development MEC Mike Mabuyakhulu, and Northern Cape ANC leader John Block.

- SAPA