Johannesburg - A Randburg magistrate who allegedly tried to solicit a R500 000 bribe from a man wanted in Botswana to make his extradition case disappear has denied all the allegations.
Paul Mthabela, who is also a witness in Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir’s trial, told the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court on Monday that magistrate Johannes Kgomo had accepted payment in exchange for influencing the magistrate dealing with his extradition matter.
Mthabela – a South African citizen – was wanted in Botswana for allegedly defrauding the country’s Health Ministry of millions of rand. He fled to South Africa, but Interpol later arrested him and he was released on bail.
Mthabela, who spoke through a Zulu interpreter, told the court that while leaving the Randburg Magistrate’s Court in 2013 after an appearance, he was approached by two men in the parking lot.
“They told me they could make my case disappear in exchange for R1.5 million,” he said.
Unable to come up with the money, Mthabela consulted with his friend, Desai Lupondo, who is also an accused in the Krejcir trial, who told him that he could arrange a meeting with Kgomo.
During the alleged meeting with Kgomo, Mthabela and Lupondo agreed on an amount of R500 000 in exchange for Kgomo’s mediation with the presiding magistrate.
Kgomo and Mthabela then allegedly kept in contact over the phone and met on several occasions in his chambers.
Mthabela said he had sold his two vehicles and paid Kgomo R90 000 for his negotiation services.
Mthabela told the court that after he paid the amount, his bail conditions were eased and his passport was returned to him.
He said he was granted long postponements and, at the advice of Kgomo, he handed sick notes to the court, which prolonged the matter even further.
This allowed him time to raise the R410 000 balance that Kgomo required for his mediation.
However, promises that the case would be postponed until the balance was paid was forfeited when the magistrate approved Mthabela’s extradition.
He was taken to prison, where he phoned Kgomo and pleaded with him to negotiate with the magistrate to grant him bail.
On Kgomo’s alleged orders, Mthabela paid an additional amount for his release.
When he was released, Kgomo said he would advise the presiding magistrate to write a positive report on the case so that he could appeal the matter.
However, Mthabela – who was “angry” because he had paid money and still spent time in jail – decided to report the solicitation to the Hawks.
He said he recorded several of his meetings with Kgomo, which he presented as evidence to the Hawks.
Kgomo’s newly appointed lawyer, Rathaga Ramawele, denied that his client took money from Mthabela in return for influencing the extradition case, saying the money was in exchange for the sale of his car.
Mthabela, together with Krejcir and five other men, faced charges of kidnapping, attempted murder and dealing in drugs. Mthabela has since entered into a plea agreement with the State and will testify against Krejcir and his co-accused in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Last February, the day before Kgomo was to appear in court for the second time, the investigating officer in his case was hijacked and the docket with the information relating to his case was stolen.
Captain Paul Ramaloko of the Hawks said then that six men pulled the officer off the road, pointed guns at him, took all his personal belongings and the police car he was driving, and sped off.
The car was later found abandoned in Thokoza, Ekurhuleni.
When attempts were made to reconstruct the docket from the SAPS’s computerised docket system, the Magistrates Commission discovered that the information had been wiped out.
But Ramaloko denied this, saying no information had been removed from the system.
Kgomo is still under suspension pending the outcome of the case. The trial continues.
The Star