The NPA has reiterated its commitment to prosecuting state capture cases, stating they are working with relevant partners. However, given the lack of visible progress over the past three years, public scepticism remains high.
General: NPA still deciding on Life Esidimeni prosecutions
The NPA is yet to reach a decision on whether to criminally charge former Gauteng Health officials in the Life Esidimeni matter but is mum on whether former Justice Minister Thembi Simelane will be tried over her alleged involvement in the VBS Mutual Bank saga. This was revealed by the Gauteng DPP, Sibongile Mzinyathi, at a media briefing in Pretoria yesterday, reports TimesLIVE. He was providing an update on the Gauteng division’s overall performance in 2023/24, strengthening its capacity as well as ongoing and completed court cases. Speaking on the first, Mzinyathi said: ‘The division achieved a high conviction rate in the High Court of 91.9%. This was 68 convictions out of 74 cases finalised. The Regional Courts during this period achieved a conviction rate of 83.3% – which is 1 540 convictions out of 1 837 cases finalised. ‘Our District Courts achieved a conviction rate of 96.3% – which is 12 640 convictions out of 13 130 cases finalised.’ Mzinyathi provided a breakdown of conviction rates in several prosecutions, including murder, femicide and trio crimes. On the first, he said the Gauteng division had achieved a 81.7% or 196 convictions from 240 cases finalised. Turning to femicide, Mzinyathi said NPA Gauteng had achieved a 100% conviction rate from 29 cases finalised. Intimate partner femicide saw a 97.2% conviction rate — which was 35 convictions from 36 cases finalised. Mzinyathi said the division secured an 80.5% conviction rate when it came to trio crimes – this translated into 103 convictions from 128 cases finalised.
It achieved a 77.5% conviction rate in the sexual offences category – 306 convictions out of 389 finalised cases, and a 90.5% conviction rate in complex commercial crimes and corruption. The division secured 38 convictions out of 42 cases finalised. Mzinyathi provided a progress report on several ongoing high-profile cases. These included the Steinhoff saga, the VBS Bank scandal and the Life Esidimeni tragedy, reports TimesLIVE. ‘To date, the decision to prosecute the accused has not been made because there are still internal processes (such as) going carefully through the finding of the inquest to ensure that a well-informed decision is made,’ he said on Life Esidimeni. This is more than five months after the Gauteng High Court (Pretoria) found that former Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu and the province’s former head of Mental Health, Dr Makgabo Manamela, were negligent and responsible for some of the 144 Life Esidimeni psychiatric patients’ deaths. The DPP was questioned on whether his division will go after Simelane over her alleged involvement in the VBS scandal. ‘The VBS matter is a multipronged investigation that relates to several municipalities and in relation to the subjects of the investigation,’ said Mzinyathi. ‘Our response is that we don’t want to comment on pending investigations because that may compromise the investigation itself.’
The Daily Maverick reports that Mzinyathi yesterday emphasised that while lower courts continued to meet their targets, corruption matters faced delays due to the complex nature of these cases and the lack of skilled prosecutors. ‘These cases require specialised skills and are often hotly contested, leading to lower finalisation rates,’ he said. Mzinyathi acknowledged that the high conviction rates in trio crimes (house, business robberies, and car hijacking) had previously been low. However, the involvement of skilled prosecutors had contributed to a significant improvement in conviction rates. In reporting on the performance for the year, the NPA also took the opportunity to launch strategic projects aimed at addressing priority crimes in Gauteng. Mzinyathi also provided an update on the VBS Mutual Bank scandal, the Steinhoff case, the Life Esidimeni Inquest, the Bushiri extradition and illegal mining.
