The end of the marathon Roodefontein corruption trial came into sight on Wednesday as former Western Cape premier Peter Marais decided to exercise his right to silence.
As the state and his co-accused, former Western Cape provincial minister of environment David Malatsi, closed their cases, Marais’s advocate Craig Webster asked for half an hour to consult his client.
Returning to the court, he told Bellville Regional Magistrate Andre le Grange: ”I close the case for accused two.”
Le Grange, who will resume a post as an acting judge in the Cape High Court on Monday, postponed the matter — which has been running intermittently since 2003 — to September 26 for argument.
Marais and Malatsi have pleaded not guilty to charges of corruption stemming from donations totalling R400 000 to the New National Party in 2002 by Roodefontein golf estate’s would-be developer, Count Riccardo Agusta.
The state claims the money was meant to ”oil” stalled provincial approval of the proposed R550-million golf estate on the outskirts of Plettenberg Bay.
Marais said after Wednesday’s hearing that his decision not to testify was taken on Webster’s advice.
”My counsel, you will recall, asked for my dismissal in December already [at the initial closure of the state case], and my counsel decided to advise me that it’s not necessary for me to go into the box, and I accepted my counsel’s advice, that’s all.
”I feel that I have a very good counsel.
”I think the legal system in South Africa is so designed as to know how to arrive at the truth, and I think that I have full confidence in the justice system. My fate is in their hands.
”I still say that I’m innocent of any wrongdoing, and I’ll have to wait for the judgment now.”
Asked how he felt, Malatsi said: ”Obviously, anybody should feel confident that a judgement would go in their [favour].
”And this is a criminal case, and it being a criminal case, it means they must have proved their case beyond any reasonable doubt. And many doubts were raised in this court.”
Earlier on Wednesday, after completing a six-day cross examination of Malatsi, prosecutor Bruce Morrison was given permission to reopen the state case to call Scorpions investigating officer, Johannes ”JD” Kotze to the witness box.
Kotze, who is on sick leave after a heart bypass operation, refuted Malatsi’s claims that he had been lured into a potentially damaging taped interview with the Scorpions in April 2003.
Malatsi has told the court that his then advocate Pete Mihalik persuaded him to lie to the Scorpions, giving them ”what they wanted”, and assured him that the interview could not be used as evidence against him.
Kotze said on Wednesday that Mihalik approached the Scorpions saying his client was prepared to spill the beans on Marais and alleged Mafia kingpin Vito Palazzolo, who has links to Agusta.
Mihalik had acknowledged that the interview would be ”with prejudice” –in other words, admissible in any proceedings against Malatsi.
Before the interview got under way, Kotze said, he himself fully informed Malatsi of his rights, and told him the material could be used against him.
In the interview, which stretched over three days, he did not pressure Malatsi either for answers ”in a certain direction”, or to implicate people.
”I did not get the impression he had been told by anyone to give certain answers,” Kotze said.
”I got the impression that what Mr Malatsi told us was the truth, but that he held some things back.”
He acknowledged that Mihalik was afterwards unhappy at the Scorpions’ decision not to indemnify Malatsi, but said Mihalik apologised for a claim, made during the trial, that the Scorpions had ”hoodwinked” him and his client. — Sapa