The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has proposed that police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi present himself to the Randburg Regional Court on January 30.
”We wrote to Selebi’s attorney proposing this,” NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali said on Wednesday.
Earlier, Selebi’s legal team said it would meet on Thursday to discuss whether the date was suitable and then confirm it with the NPA.
”We’ve got a letter from the NPA’s office suggesting further procedures and dates …,” said advocate Fanus Coetzee.
”We will consult with Mr Selebi to see whether the proposed date is suitable for us, then we will discuss it further with them [the NPA].”
On Friday, Selebi made an urgent application to have an investigation against him stopped.
He failed to have the matter heard urgently, but in court papers, acting national director of public prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe said he was ready to charge Selebi with corruption and defeating the course of justice.
On Monday, the NPA said it would decide whether to go ahead with formal charges against Selebi, or wait for the outcome of his application to have the probe against him stopped. A date for that had still to be set.
Alleged corrupt relations with murder accused and convicted drug-trafficker Glen Agliotti, payments to the amount of R1,2-million and turning a blind eye to drug-smuggling were some of the reasons why the NPA wanted to charge him, the court heard.
Selebi has been placed on leave and it was announced over the weekend that he had resigned as head of Interpol.
Meanwhile, the police were still waiting for word on their application to the NPA to ”outsource” a planned continuation of the investigation against Gerrie Nel, the NPA prosecutor leading the Selebi investigation and the Gauteng director of public prosecutions.
Last week Nel was arrested on charges of defeating the ends of justice, which related to testimony he gave in the trial of a former colleague Cornwell Tshavunghwa. These charges were withdrawn on Monday.
The application to have the investigation ”outsourced” was a first, said police spokesperson Superintendent Lungelo Dlamini.
It was made to Mpshe, in terms of Section 38 of the NPA Act, which sets out the terms of a such a request.
”We need somebody independent from the NPA,” said Dlamini.
The Act allows for a deputy national director, or a director, after consultation with the justice minister, to engage in agreements with people who have suitable qualifications and experience to ”perform services in special cases”.
Dlamini said he did not have details of who the work would be outsourced to, if the application was approved, but this would be decided in consultations between the NPA and the police. — Sapa