Durban – Any ideas that the trial against suspended KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss Major-General Johan Booysen and his 25 co-accused would proceed swiftly in the coming year, were dashed when the case against them was postponed on Monday in the Durban High Court for the 13th time.
Judge Shyam Gyanda postponed the case, with agreement from both the State prosecutor and the defence, to allow applications to have the racketeering charges declared null and void.
The case was adjourned to September 29. Booysen and the 25 men face a host of charges that range from corruption and racketeering through to murder and attempted murder.
Booysen and the men, who were arrested and charged in 2012, have steadfastly denied the charges, in which the State claims that Booysen headed up a criminal enterprise, which included paid hits on members of the taxi industry.
Booysen has already had the charges, which were initiated by then acting National Director of Public Prosecutions Advocate Nomgcobo Jiba, thrown out of the Durban High Court by Judge Trevor Gorven in February 2014.
However, last year National director of public prosecutions (NDPP) Shaun Abrahams reinstated the same charges against Booysen.