South Africa orders withdrawal of charges against Police Commissioner Masemola
In South Africa, National Director of Public Prosecutions Andy Mothibi has ordered the withdrawal of charges under the Public Finance Management Act against National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola. He concluded that there are no reasonable prospects of a successful criminal prosecution, TimesLIVE reports.
Review of evidence
According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago, Mothibi reviewed the evidence gathered by the Independent Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), as well as assessments by the case analysis team and an independent senior advocate.
Kganyago explained that prosecution directives require prosecutors to establish whether there are reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution before referring a case for trial. Following the assessment, Mothibi decided that this threshold had not been met in the proceedings against Masemola.
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The National Director of Public Prosecutions used constitutional powers to intervene in the prosecution process when prosecution directives have not been followed. The authority noted that continuing a prosecution with insufficient evidence is not in the public interest.
Background of the proceedings
On May 4, IDAC brought four charges against Masemola for violating the Public Finance Management Act. After that, President Cyril Ramaphosa placed the commissioner on special leave. The proceedings were linked to a multimillion police tender for medical services awarded to Vusimuzi “Ketu” Matlala.
According to Kganyago, Mothibi will inform the IDAC judge about the case and provide the case assessment team’s report for a review of how the prosecution team analysed the evidence, referred the case for consideration and applied the law. Prosecutors must also arrange Masemola’s appearance in court for the formal withdrawal of the case. The assessment and review of all IDAC cases will continue as part of the directorate’s reboot programme.
