The Pietermaritzburg High Court has reserved judgement in an urgent application by French arms dealer Thint for the withdrawal of criminal charges linked to South Africa’s multibillion-rand arms deal.
After hearing legal argument on Tuesday, Judge Nick van der Reyden said he will make a decision as soon as possible.
Thint, formerly known as Thomson CSF and then Thales, has been charged along with Durban businessman Schabir Shaik and nine other companies with corruption and fraud related to the arms deal.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has already given Thint a written assurance that charges will be dropped in return for evidence at Shaik’s trial, but this will only happen when the trial starts on October 11.
Last week Thint filed papers seeking to have the charges withdrawn as a matter of urgency. It claimed it is suffering ”prejudice” as a result of the charges.
Mike Govindasamy for Thint told the court on Tuesday: ”It’s unacceptable and unbelievable that one can say that the national director [of the NPA, Bulelani Ngcuka] can simply take a decision and do nothing about it.”
He said by refusing to withdraw the charges, the NPA has ”effectively decided to continue the prosecution till October”.
Advocate Richard Salmon, for the NPA, said Ngcuka has requested ”particulars” on how the company is suffering, but none have been given.
According to Salmon, Thint remains an accused until the charges are withdrawn and ”the decision [to withdraw in October] was not reviewable”.
He also argued that as a matter of policy ”it was absolutely vital that the NPA not be vulnerable to administrative challenges”.
Salmon said the court cannot set a precedent where an accused goes running to the High Court every time to review decisions by the NPA and in effect delay criminal trials.
He also argued that if the charges are withdrawn before the trial starts, Thint will still be ”prejudiced” because its name will be mentioned.
He called on the court to dismiss the application with costs.
In an affidavit, a former director of the company, Alain Thetard, claimed that during confidential negotiations between himself and Ngcuka, it was decided that the company would be dropped from the charge sheet in exchange for certain information.
This information concerned whether Thetard was the author of an encrypted fax that appears to implicate Shaik and Deputy President Jacob Zuma.
Last year, Ngcuka said there was a prima facie case of corruption against Zuma over the arms deal, but he would not prosecute him as the chance of success was too slim. — Sapa