The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) made a significant breakthrough this week in the ongoing effort to end impunity for high-level corruption. The preservation orders in the Optimum Coal Mine case are a demonstration that the wheels of justice in relation to complex crime are starting to turn in meaningful ways.
The Durban High Court sentenced McWayne Marimuthu (30), to 20 years imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to murdering his wife, Roxanne Thanthoni in March 2020 in Tongaat. Marimuthu also pleaded guilty to three counts of assault and was sentenced to three months imprisonment for each count, these will run concurrently with the 20-year sentence. In his plea, Marimuthu stated that he suffered from substance abuse. He met Thanthoni at a church function in 2018, and they got married in December 2019.
The former Umkhonto Wesizwe and Military Veterans member, Hevy Sidney Khumalo (54), from White River made his second brief appearance in the Nelspruit Magistrates` Court earlier today on charges of arson and attempted murder. During his first appearance on 18 March 2022, the accused wanted to conduct his defence and later changed his mind and elected the services of a legal aid attorney and the bail application proceeded.
The Cape Town Magistrates’ Court postponed the case against alleged arsonist Zandile Christmas Mafe, for six weeks after the state requested to finalise outstanding investigations. Senior State Adv. Mervyn Menigo told the court that forensic investigators were granted access to parliament on 15 March 2022. Adv.
The Estcourt Regional Court sentenced a 36-year-old man to two terms of life imprisonment, for the rape of his biological daughter in the Lindelani area of Weenen. On the first count, the man raped his child on diverse occasions from 2017 to 2019. Then he raped her again in October 2020, when he was caught by his wife who found him and the child alone in a room. The man was in a state of undress and rushed to get dressed when he saw her.
The trial of Chen Wenhei who is facing a charge of contraventions of Counterfeiting Goods Act 37 of 1997, will commence in the Warrenton Regional Court on 14 April 2022. The accused was arrested on 10 July 2018, by members of the South African Police Service K9-Unit, while on patrol, police received information that the accused was running a counterfeit syndicate.
The National Prosecuting Authority established a Task Force to coordinate the NPA’s response to the recommendations and findings made by the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Allegations of State Capture, Corruption and Fraud in the Public Sector including Organs of State, better known as the Zondo Commission or State Capture Commission.