North West NPA calls for patience as it works on Marikana, VBS cases
The National Prosecuting Authority in North West has asked for patience in the prosecution of suspects in the Marikana, Gupta-linked Mediosa, and VBS Mutual Bank cases.
The provincial NPA briefed the media on Wednesday on the progress made in the prosecution of high-profile cases.
Provincial prosecutions head Rachel Makhari-Sekhaolelo said there is still some evidence outstanding in the Marikana case, a decade after police gunned down 34 striking mineworkers.
"I cannot say we are fighting a losing battle; it is all about evidence and if the court acquits it means the evidence was not sufficient enough. The witnesses who were to testify, testified in a manner that the court could not reach a conclusive decision that we have proved our case beyond reasonable doubt. We do our best and we present the evidence we have before court and the court decides."
The case against the province’s deputy police commissioner at the time of the massacre, William Mpembe, has been postponed to February 2023.
Makhari-Sekhaolelo says criminal cases related to the collapse of VBS have now been centralised to the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit.
Several municipalities in North West, Gauteng and Limpopo lost about R1.6 billion in the VBS Mutual Bank scandal after investing millions of rand unlawfully.
Meanwhile, the case against the former head of the North West Health Department Thabo Lekalakala has been postponed to April 2023 for trial in the high court.
Lekalakala has been charged with fraud and corruption related to the controversial mobile clinic tender that was awarded to the Gupta-linked company, Mediosa, to the tune of R30 million.
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