/ 17 June 2014

NPA to reinstate certain charges against Mdluli

Former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli.
Former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli.

Some charges against former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli have been reinstated, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Tuesday night.

“We have made a decision on which charges are to be reinstated and which are not to be reinstated,” said NPA spokesperson Nathi Ncube.

“It has been communicated to Freedom Under Law [FUL] and to the person concerned, which is Mr Mdluli. So those two have been informed.”

He would not say which charges had been reinstated. “When it goes to court, the media will know which charges.”

He dismissed a report by City Press that Mdluli would be charged with kidnapping, assault and intimidation.

FUL director and spokesperson Hugh Corder could not be reached for comment.

Mdluli was suspended amid charges of fraud and corruption, and charges relating to the murder of his ex-lover’s husband, Oupa Ramogibe, in February 1999. He allegedly employed friends and family as intelligence operatives and misused police funding to buy luxury cars. The fraud and corruption charges were withdrawn on December 14 2011.

In March 2012, Mdluli was reinstated as head of crime intelligence.

Pending inquest
A month later, the NPA provisionally withdrew the murder charges, pending an inquest into the matter.

In May 2012, former police minister Nathi Mthethwa announced that Mdluli would be transferred from crime intelligence to the office of the deputy national police commissioner for operations.

Later that month, he was suspended for a second time when allegations emerged from the inquest into Ramogibe’s murder. In November 2012, the inquest cleared him of any involvement in the murder. In this case, Mdluli and three others were accused of killing Ramogibe, as well as charges of intimidation, kidnapping, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder.

Ramogibe allegedly received death threats after marrying Mdluli’s ex-lover and was told to leave her or he would be killed. He opened an attempted murder case before his death.

At the time, Mdluli was the station commander of the Vosloorus police station in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg, and was accused of sabotaging the investigation.

In April, the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld a high court ruling against the withdrawal of fraud and corruption charges against Mdluli.

The appeal court said it could not immediately order the reinstatement of criminal prosecution and disciplinary proceedings, as this would constitute undue interference with the executive and a transgression of the separation of powers.

FUL had sought an order in the high court in Pretoria to set aside the decisions and reinstate the charges against Mdluli. – Sapa