April 9, 2019
Attempts to remove honest professionals and appoint dishonorable and incompetent people at the highest echelons of the criminal justice system have severely undermined the Rule of Law in South Africa.
One of the founding values of democratic South Africa is ‘the supremacy of the Constitution and the rule of law’. The World Justice Project defines ‘rule of law’ as ‘the process by which the laws [in a democracy] are enacted, administered, and enforced is accessible, fair, and efficient’. This means that the level of a country’s democracy is determined by its adherence to the basic principles in which all people – regardless of their economic or political status – are subject to equal legal rules … Well at least that is how the system is supposed to work!
This principle is critically important for the success of any country. It provides a clear national system that is to be applied fairly to every group and person. Without this, the system will increasingly lose credibility and public trust. Criminality and instability increase; is clearly seen to be putting everyone at risk.
The criminal justice system is the cornerstone for ensuring the rule of law functions in an effective and healthy manner. This is why South Africa’s Constitution places primacy on the independence of various institutions, such as the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the Hawks and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).
Over the past few years, the conduct of various prominent officials within the criminal justice system has severely undermined this constitutional principle and the very foundation of our democracy. Following careful consideration of the hard evidence before various courts, a number of judges have independently questioned the integrity and conduct of some of our most senior officials.
In the last 5 years we have seen a long line of such judgments, Judge Francis Legodi of the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria delivered a scathing judgment during which he struck the names of Advocates Nomgcobo Jiba and Lawrence Mrwebi from the roll of advocates. These officials served as Deputy National Directors of the NPA; Jiba was Head of the National Prosecuting Services (NPS), and Mrwebi was Head of the Specialized Commercial Crimes unit.
All South Africans rely on the individuals who occupy these positions to exercise their considerable powers in tackling organized crime and corruption. However, it has emerged through various court cases and legal processes that Jiba and Mrwebi had instead seemed to use their powers to “protect” certain well known individuals facing serious criminal allegations; rather than in the public interest.
Following careful consideration of the evidence, Jiba and Mrwebi were accused of acting to hinder and or prevent the prosecution of prominent persons such as President Jacob Zuma and Lieutenant General Richard Mdluli – the head of the South African Police Service’s (SAPS’) Crime Intelligence Division. Mdluli was later inexplicably suspended on full pay with all perks since 2012 while facing criminal prosecution for a raft of crimes ranging from murder to corruption.
Many police officials have been disciplined and dismissed from the SAPS for far lesser incidents of misconduct, and with far less evidence available. Those senior police and NPA officials have all gone out of their way to prevent Mdluli’s investigation and prosecution seems to point to a hidden network of profoundly dishonest individuals within the criminal justice system, who have either been appointed, or are acting, with the primary purpose of protecting certain powerful people from criminal sanction.
It has been alleged that a central figure in this unholy alliance is Lieutenant General Mdluli; who was seen at the time and allegedly dedicated to protecting Zuma and those close to him from investigation and prosecution. It was further alleged that this is the primary reason why Zuma has not been effectively held accountable for the many cases of criminal and unethical conduct that have been leveled against him.
It had been reported that Zuma attended a party hosted by Mdluli in December 2011 to celebrate the illegal withdrawal of corruption and fraud charges against him by the NPA. Mdluli was irregularly appointed to his position as head of Crime Intelligence on 1 July 2009, two months after Zuma’s ascendency to the Presidency following a clandestine meeting of four of Zuma’s loyal ministers – including then minister of police, Nathi Mthethwa, and his deputy, Susan Shabangu.
Against accepted protocols for appointing someone to such a sensitive post, there were no senior SAPS officials present at the meeting that preceded his appointment; and Mdluli was not subject to the necessary evaluation or vetting. Then acting national commissioner, Tim Williams, declined the invitation to attend, given that it flouted accepted appointment procedures. Williams later publicly criticized the process as irregular and the appointment as politically motivated.
Despite reported efforts by Mthethwa to halt all criminal investigations and disciplinary action against Mdluli, the crime intelligence boss was eventually suspended following a successful court application by Freedom Under Law, a non-governmental organization. There were at the time, and could remain the situation today, strong allegations that despite suspension and criminal prosecution, Mdluli is still actively directing SAPS Crime Intelligence resources to influence political events.
A similar example was the appointment of the head of the Hawks, Lieutenant General Berning Ntlemeza. A warning statement by Innocent Khuba – who at the time was the suspended provincial head of IPID and who was charged for defeating the ends of justice – alleges that Ntlemeza was long earmarked for this important post by powerful political individuals.
According to Khuba, he was asked in October 2012 to investigate the alleged involvement of the previous head of the Hawks, Lieutenant General Anwa Dramat, along with the then Gauteng Provincial head, Major General Shadrack Sibiya, in relation to the alleged illegal rendition of Zimbabwean citizens to the Zimbabwean police in November 2010.
According to Khuba, Ntlemeza told him his ‘political principals’ wanted him to become head of the Hawks as far back as 2012 following a ‘hit’ to remove Dramat from his post. It has been alleged that Dramat fell out of favour after pursuing various politically sensitive criminal cases implicating individuals close to the president.
Both Dramat and Head of the IPID, Robert McBride, were “illegally” suspended by the Minister of Police, Nkosinathi Nhleko, who suddenly wanted them removed following their attempts to pursue such investigations. Dramat took a generous pay-out to resign and McBride successfully fought the attempt at removing him in the courts. Ntlemeza was appointed by Nhleko despite not being properly assessed for competency, and a High Court Judge finding that Ntlemeza was dishonest and dishonorable.
Corruption and organized crime, have increased substantially since Jacob Zuma came to power, and he himself has been able to avoid prosecution despite hard evidence supporting 783 criminal charges of: fraud, corruption, money-laundering and racketeering.
All South Africans are worse off for it, we have experienced this as the situation is prominent today because there is less public money for services such as education, health, welfare, pensions and more people are murdered or attacked on the street and in their homes. All the citizen can do is look forward and place reliance on the changing political environment that it will result in a system where only the best and most honest people are appointed to fight crime. Until that happens, South Africans will all be worse off while those involved in crime and corruption will continue to thrive indecently.
THE END.
By Mary Downes for Break The Silence About South Africa.
Dated: January, 24th, 2018. UPDated April, 7th, 2019
