Lebeya says Hawks confident in NPA despite Koko case debacle
The head of the Hawks, Godfrey Lebeya, says the entity has not lost confidence in the National Prosecuting Authority following its failure to keep the Eskom corruption case against the entity’s former acting head on the court roll.
"We are not losing confidence in the NPA. There are reasons why the bench had decided the way they have. Firstly, the NPA is appealing that ruling. They are of a different view as a regard to what was decided by the court.
"In the second matter, is of the matter being struck off the roll because of the view that there is an undue delay on finalising whatever that needed to be finalised."
Lebeya on Thursday briefed the media on the work done by the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI) during the second quarter of the 2023/2024 financial year.
His remarks came after the NPA came under fire for its case against former Eskom executive Matshela Koko and 18 others, which the Middelburg Regional Court struck from the roll on Tuesday.
The group faced charges of fraud, corruption, and money laundering relating to the irregular awarding of multi-billion contracts for work at the Kusile Power Station to companies linked to Koko’s friends and family.
They were arrested in October 2022 and released on bail.
The matter relates to billions of rands worth of contracts for work at the Kusile power station that allegedly went to companies linked to Koko’s friends and family.
Magistrate Stanley Jacob said the National Prosecuting Authority would have to provide a letter from the National Director for Public Prosecutions to re-enroll the matter.
Speaking to media outside court, Koko said South Africans deserve answers.
"I think South Africans have been taking for a ride - justice cuts both ways. Put yourself in the shoes of South Africans who are innocent, who are law-abiding - they expect these charges to be answered - and by the way, I will answer them.
"What you see here is a hate crime - what has happened to me and my family is nothing else but a hate crime - it's hate for Koko. It should never happen to my family."
Spokesperson for the NPA’s Investigating Directorate Sindisiwe Seboka said the state would abide by the judgment but won't rush to reinstate the matter.
"In order to be able to bring people to court, to formulate charge sheets and essentially indictments to be ventilated in our higher courts - it does take time because of the complexities, the systems, the enablers and that are doing those things. So, we won't be putting a time frame or any further pressure on the Investigating Directorate until we've remedied the issues that the magistrate says we must look into."
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