The serving and former MPs facing the music in Travelgate, the parliamentary travel-scam case, on Friday received a provisional indictment that details fraud and alternative theft charges totalling about R24-million.
At the same time, a Cape Town magistrate turned up the heat on the Scorpions to finalise their preparation for the case.
Rejecting a bid by the state to have the matter formally transferred to the High Court for trial on July 31 next year, magistrate Hennie le Roux instead ordered that he be told why a massive forensic report commissioned by the Scorpions is not yet available.
He said it is clear that the report is important for the defence teams and for any issues they want to raise ahead of a trial, and that if the explanation is not forthcoming by the next court date, January 31, they could apply for the matter to be scrapped from the roll.
Scorpions prosecutor Jannie van Vuuren earlier told the court that the ”investigation per se” is not yet complete, in the sense that the ”immense” forensic report, which will form the bulk of the evidence in the case, has yet to be finalised.
The Scorpions are in the hands of the private forensic auditors to whom the matter has been outsourced, though he has set them a deadline.
He said the report covers the activities of five travel agents over a period of three to four years, and ”millions and millions” of transactions.
Because the agents did not necessarily keep records of their fraudulent activities, part of the investigations might, for example, involve asking the Southern Sun group whether particular people stayed at its hotels at any time over that period.
He said that because South African Airways refused to do it itself, 10 investigators have had to go through a warehouse stacked with millions of old flight tickets to find original documents to match to computer records.
So far, the Scorpions have amassed 40 000 documents that they intend to present as evidence, which is less than a third of the documentation that will eventually be made available to the defence.
The state will try to have the documents scanned so they are available electronically, failing which the defence teams will have to pay for a set of photocopies or bring their own copying machines to the Scorpions’ offices.
He said he will try to provide the defence teams with the bulk of the evidence, if not everything, by December 15.
Joining of trials
Replying to defence objections to the state’s bid to join the trials of the travel agents with that of the group of politicians, Van Vuuren said he is trying to arrange a ”structured process” ahead of the trial, and is proposing a separate hearing before a ”judicial officer” to deal with this issue after proper argument.
”The last thing I’m trying to do with a joint trial is to force anybody to plea-bargain,” he said to disbelieving laughter from some of the defence lawyers and their clients.
Advocate Seth Nthai, who is appearing for all the African National Congress MPs and former MPs involved, confirmed in court that National Director of Public Prosecutions Vusi Pikoli has ”responded negatively” to representations for dismissal of the charges against his clients.
”It appears that the gates of a protracted legal battle are now open,” he said.
Only 19 of the 21 MPs were in the crowded courtroom on Friday, and most of them were forced to remain standing throughout the proceedings.
”Ladies and gentlemen, once again I don’t have seats for you. Budget constraints, I believe,” joked Le Roux as they took their places before him.
In a separate appearance earlier on Friday, he ordered that the case of former Star Travel boss Graham Geduldt and travel agent Nazley Lackay be transferred to the High Court for trial on July 31.
Both of them, and the MPs, are on bail. — Sapa