Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi’s bid to stop the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) from proceeding with prosecution against him will be heard in the Pretoria High Court on Friday.
Selebi has brought an urgent application seeking more information about the charges the NPA intends levelling against him.
The case is to be heard at 10am on Friday, said the office of presiding Judge Nico Coetzee.
The NPA said it planned to ”strongly” oppose the application.
NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali confirmed that Selebi’s legal team had served papers on the NPA on Thursday morning.
Selebi was not prepared to comment on the matter as it was an issue for the courts, said his spokesperson, Director Sally de Beer, adding that Selebi had brought the application in his personal capacity.
The NPA on December 16 said it had made a decision on whether or not Selebi ”had a case to answer”, but has not made public this decision.
The decision was made after the NPA received a report from a panel tasked with reviewing the criminal charges against the police national commissioner and current head of Interpol.
Selebi has come under fire over his involvement with convicted drug-trafficker Glenn Agliotti, who is also accused of the murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble.
An arrest warrant against Selebi was cancelled in September.
It was obtained by Gauteng Scorpions head Gerrie Nel from the Randburg chief magistrate in September last year for Selebi’s arrest for alleged corruption, fraud, racketeering and defeating the ends of justice.
Acting Director for Public Prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe had the arrest warrant cancelled shortly after taking the reins from suspended NPA boss Vusi Pikoli.
Pikoli was suspended in September due to an ”irretrievable breakdown” in the relationship between him and the minister of justice, apparently relating to the investigation of Selebi.
Nel was on Tuesday arrested by police on charges of corruption, but was released on bail on Wednesday.
Tlali said on Thursday the NPA did not plan suspending Nel pending the outcome of the case against him, since the information against him was not strong enough to warrant a suspension.
Concern
Earlier this week, opposition parties voiced their concern over the NPA’s delay in announcing whether it will charge police Selebi, with the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) accusing the NPA of double standards.
”The NPA displays double standards with its hesitation to decide whether to act against Selebi or not,” FF+ spokesperson on safety and security Pieter Groenewald said in a statement.
The NPA had not hesitated when it charged ANC president Jacob Zuma.
Groenewald also accused the NPA of using Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Brigitte Mabandla as a scapegoat.
”The NPA is now hiding behind the minister of justice by stating that they are waiting for the minister to read the report on Selebi,” he said.
Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille on Tuesday requested the NPA to furnish the party with its investigation progress report.
In a letter addressed to Mpshe, De Lille asked the NPA whether it had made a decision on whether or not to charge Selebi.
”Has the NPA concluded its decision on whether or not to prosecute [police] National Commissioner Selebi?
”If yes, by when does the NPA envisage this decision to be released to the public?
”If not, what is the cause of the delay?” she said.
She said it was important to get a direct response from the NPA as ”conflicting statements from the NPA are not helping the situation and South Africa needs clarity”.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Democratic Alliance asked that Mpshe be called to Parliament to explain the delay in making public the decision on whether to charge Selebi.
Tertius Delport, the DA’s spokesperson on justice, wrote a letter to Yunus Ismail Carrim, the chairperson of Parliament’s portfolio committee on justice and constitutional development, asking that Mpshe be called
to report on the current situation.
”This lengthy delay has allowed public speculation to proceed unchecked, with a great deal of possible harm done to our criminal justice system,” Delport wrote.
”The potential damage to public confidence in and loss of credibility of the criminal justice system has been severe,” he added. — Sapa