Thulisile Mapongwana
A former Bhisho government official and two businessmen appeared in the East London Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Friday, facing charges of corruption, the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA) and defeating the ends of justice.
A trial within a trial has been taking place this week, as the province's suspended Community Safety Director, Neil Naidoo, along with the owners of KJP Traders, Matthew Pillay, and Kenny Govender, challenge the admissibility of unauthorised recordings.
The trio is accused of attempting to bribe investigating officers from the NPA's Investigative Directorate with R3.5 million. The alleged bribery was aimed at halting an investigation into a national police tender, in which KJP Traders allegedly delivered substandard furniture in a contract worth R69 million.
The suspects appeared in court under tight security, with heavily armed police officers present.
Their defence argued that recordings of meetings and phone conversations should not be admitted as evidence, claiming they were made before authorisation from the Director of Public Prosecution, Barry Madolo, for a Section 252a application of the Criminal Procedure Act, which allows police to set traps or go undercover to stop a crime.
The unauthorised recordings span from 9 March to 2 April 2022. The defence further argued that the suspects' right to a fair trial was violated, as the evidence was obtained in an improper and unfair manner.
They claimed that the law enforcement agents went beyond providing an opportunity, instead pressuring the accused into offering bribes.
Meanwhile, the investigating officer on the stand, Captain Melissa Prince, explained the recordings by saying that they needed every single piece of information from the "targets" to form a strong reasoning for a Section 252a application.
Magistrate Sadia Jacobson allowed the court to stand down to give Prince an opportunity to refresh her memory on the corruption case, which is separate to the procurement fraud case, after the Captain could not answer questions by the defence.
The trial within a trial is set to continue from 9 -11 December.
Naidoo and Pillay are out on R5 000 bail, while Govender’s bail was set at R50 000.
