Durban - Shauwn Mpisane’s tax fraud trial was expected to get under way today after the businesswoman’s successful application to prevent the State from causing further delays in the matter.
Durban Regional Court magistrate Blessing Msani, after reading the riot act to the State on Friday, found the “unreasonable delays” caused by repeated changes to the charge sheet had prejudiced Mpisane, both legally and financially.
Msani said that, since Mpisane first appeared before him in June 2011, the court had been “bogged down” with application after application, instead of dealing with the trial. This placed the administration of justice in a bad light.
“The State has been somersaulting and moving the goalposts repeatedly, and the end result is that there has been a lack of progress, and therefore an unreasonable delay, in the matter.”
The State should have got its house in order before it made up its mind about the charges.
Mpisane and her company, Zikhulise Cleaning, Maintenance and Transport, are facing 119 counts of fraud for allegedly swindling the taxman out of R4.7 million.
Days before her trial was to start, Mpisane was arrested and charged for allegedly interfering with a witness and evidence in the trial.
On Friday, Msani, in his refusal of the State’s application to add charges, did not object to additional charges being brought, as long as it did not interfere with the current trial.
Moments after the magistrate ordered that the trial proceed on the charges Mpisane had pleaded to, defence advocate Jimmy Howse advised the court they would be challenging the admissibility of some of the evidence.
Howse said a chunk of the charges relied on evidence from invoices which had been the subject of an alternative dispute resolution process, and were therefore protected under various confidentiality regulations made in terms of the Income Tax Act and could not be tendered as evidence in any other proceedings.
Responding, prosecutor Meera Naidu asked for another adjournment. The defence immediately said the State knew about the issue and Naidu was simply wasting time again.
Before Naidu could respond, Msani said: “If you refuse to lead evidence, I can close this case for you.”
The State was expected to lead evidence on Monday. - Daily News