Ann Eveleth
Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi has lost a significant battle in his bid to clean up the controversial KwaZulu Police force.
Former Sundumbili station commander Major Owen Zama — the first of 14 officers Mufamadi ordered suspended last year — was acquitted on Friday on charges related to an alleged 1990 attempt to frame African National Congress Sundumbili leader Siphiwe Ngidi, by tampering with a police docket.
Durban regional court magistrate Johannes Augustyn acquitted Zama on the charges of fraud, contempt of court and defeating the ends of justice. He earlier dismissed charges of conspiracy to defeat the ends of
Augustyn said the state had presented insufficient evidence to support the charges.
Zama’s acquittal highlights the difficulties faced by Mufamadi and the Investigation Task Unit (ITU) assigned to get to the bottom of hit squad allegations in KwaZulu/Natal. Zama, who featured in a Transitional Executive Council report on hit squads last year, delivered his first blow to Mufamadi last August when he successfully fought his suspension order in the Durban Supreme Court and was reinstated.
The failed suspension bid saw Zama return to his post in Sundumbili while KZP investigators struggled to build a case against him. Most of the witnesses in the case were also members of the KZP, and sources this week said the case fell apart when some of them “became reluctant to give evidence against Zama because they were working under him”.
Although Zama was later arrested by the ITU in February on a separate charge of attempted murder, he successfully fended off a proseuction bid to deny him bail. Bail was granted on condition he removed himself from Sundumbili and refrained from interfering with officers previously under his command. Zama is now stationed in Umlazi, but Inkatha Freedom Party supporters have mobilised repeatedly in Sundumbili to demand his reinstatment there. Six people were arrested on Tuesday following violence linked to these calls.
Zama was defended by a high-powered legal team comprising both senior and junior counsel, a move defended by attorney Patrick Falconer as warranted, given that “Zama’s job was on the line”.
Zama will appear in court in June 15 on the charge of attempted murder, alternatively assault.