It will likely be a short first appearance for police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi in the Randburg Regional Court on Friday, a member of his legal team said.
Selebi would be present at the court but it was likely that his case was going to be postponed, advocate Fanus Coetzee said on Thursday.
”The state has indicated that they would ask for a postponement for further investigation,” Coetzee said.
The decision to postpone is up to the magistrate hearing the matter.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has previously indicated it intends charging Selebi with corruption and defeating the course of justice.
NPA spokesperson Tlali Tlali did want to comment on the case beyond saying it would play itself out in the court.
Selebi’s team would be handed a formal charge sheet on Friday, Coetzee said.
”We can’t even start talking about a plea until we get the final charge sheet,” said Coetzee.
Asked how Selebi was faring, he said: ”He’s taking things as they come, taking it on the chin.”
Earlier in January, Selebi made an urgent application to the Pretoria High Court to have the investigation against him stopped.
He failed to have the matter heard urgently, but will pursue that case through the normal court process, having secured a date in the Pretoria High Court on April 10.
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.
Selebi has been placed on leave by President Thabo Mbeki and has resigned as head of Interpol.
Lightning rod
South Africa’s embattled police force earlier this month sought to reassure the crime-ridden country after Selebi was placed on extended leave in a widening corruption scandal. The South African Police Service (SAPS) was under intense public scrutiny, even before it was disclosed that Selebi would face charges of corruption and defeating the course of justice.
Selebi, who denies any wrongdoing, is a lightning rod for those frustrated with the force’s inability to curtail a plague of murders, rapes, carjackings and house break-ins that have made the nation one of the most dangerous in the world. President Thabo Mbeki had backed the 57-year-old Selebi until recently, when he put the police chief on an open-ended leave.
Acting commissioner of police Tim Williams and the rest of the police top management sought to assure the public that crime-fighting would continue in the absence of Selebi.
”The management forum would like to assure the communities of South Africa that the SAPS will continue to meet the obligations and responsibilities entrusted to us in terms of the Constitution and the South African Police Service Act,” the forum said in a statement issued by the Office of the National Police Commissioner.
”Policing will continue and members of the SAPS at all levels are encouraged to focus on delivering service to the communities to ensure public safety,” it said. Williams was appointed acting police national commissioner following the revelation that the NPA was ready to charge Selebi.
The police said Williams had acted in the post of national commissioner in the past, as had the four other deputy national commissioners. ”[He] intends to ensure that policing duties continue normally and that we remain focused on our priorities,” the forum said. ”We will communicate that the work must go on, that we must work hard and continue to serve the people of South Africa,” police spokesperson Sally de Beer said, without offering details.
Analysts, however, said a changing of the guard appeared to be on the cards for the police, with it looking unlikely Selebi would return even if cleared of the accusations against him.
”I don’t think it will be good for Selebi to come back,” said Johan Burger, a senior researcher with South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria. ”I think that he has suffered too much damage to his reputation.” — Sapa, Reuters