Former
KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss Johan Booysen says he still believes that the evidence
suspended deputy prosecutions boss Nomgcobo Jiba used to charge him was
insufficient.
Booysen
was testifying at the Mokgoro inquiry, headed by retired Constitutional Court Justice
Yvonne Mokgoro, in Centurion on Monday.
"The evidence that she said
was before her...could not have been there," Booysen testified.
The inquiry is looking into
Jiba's fitness to hold office as well as that of special director of public
prosecutions, Lawrence Mrwebi.
"Two seasoned prosecutors
considered that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute you," evidence
leader Nazreen Rajab-Budlender said.
"Now, perhaps it's best
that...your position, as I understand it in the litigation, was that there
wasn't sufficient evidence before her (Jiba) to charge you. Is that
right?"
"And having looked at this
prosecution memo, do you change that opinion? Your opinion?"
Rajab-Budlender asked.
"No, I don't," Booysen
replied.
READ: Jiba pressured to prosecute Booysen, despite having 'no evidence', Mokgoro inquiry hears
Booysen was charged in August
2012 with managing and participating an "enterprise" through a
pattern of racketeering activity, News24 previously reported.
Apart from the racketeering
charges, Booysen was accused of two murders, the unlawful possession of a
firearm and ammunition, and defeating or obstructing the course of justice.
However, the State withdrew
charges of racketeering following a ruling by Judge Trevor Gorven, in which he
condemned Jiba's decision to prosecute Booysen, saying the charges did not meet
even the barest minimum requirements.
In his judgement, Gorven said: "Even
accepting the least stringent test for rationality imaginable, the decision of
the NDPP does not pass muster. I can conceive of no test for rationality,
however relaxed, which could be satisfied by her explanation.
"The impugned decisions were
arbitrary, offend the principle of legality and therefore, the rule of law, and
were unconstitutional."
The
inquiry continues.
