Cape Town - Two businessmen have been cleared of hundreds of charges in one of the most sensational bouncer cases, which exposed infighting plaguing the industry.
The businessmen, Mark Lifman and Andre Naude, believe the state targeted them for ulterior reasons.
And they are considering suing Police Minister Nathi Nhleko and the National Director of Public Prosecutions.
“It remains our first impression and view that action will probably be instituted… for damages resulting from the institution of a malicious prosecution,” the duo’s legal representative, Rudi Krause, said.
“Valuable state resources were wasted to prosecute a case which was simply without merit and in respect of which no reasonable prosecutor could ever have considered there to be a prima facie case which justified the institution of a prosecution.”
The National Prosecuting Authority did not respond to queries on the case this week.
Lifman and Naude were acquitted in the Cape Town Regional Court on Monday.
This week Lifman was in London and referred queries about the matter to Krause.
Naude said he was trying to get back on his feet after the acquittal, and was yet to consider getting totally involved in the nightclub security industry again.
“I’m not really thinking about it. I’m focusing on construction work and getting my name and life back. I lost a lot of construction contracts because of this case… It took up three-and-a-half years of my life,” he said.
Lifman and Naude were accused of running the bouncer company Specialised Protection Services (SPS) without being registered with the Private Security Regulatory Authority, as is required by law.
SPS was an amalgamation of two rival companies, one of which had been run by murdered underworld kingpin Cyril Beeka, and was launched in 2011.
But it was shut down months later when it emerged it was not registered.
By that time SPS was supplying bouncers to most clubs around Cape Town, and Lifman and Naude were dominating the nightclub security scene. But they were then arrested in a Hawks clampdown and the company buckled.
On Monday, after three years of court proceedings which involved dozens of club owners from the city testifying, Lifman and Naude were acquitted of all charges against them.
Krause said the two had faced 313 counts, including for contravening the private security regulatory act.
He had applied for their discharge, which was granted on Monday.
“The judgment confirms what (Lifman and Naude) had maintained from the onset, that the case against them was contrived,” Krause said.
“(And) that the South African Police Service, in particular the Hawks through the investigating officer, have manipulated evidence to conjure up evidence where there simply never was.”
Krause said Lifman and Naude had been “subjected to a prosecution for an ulterior purpose”.
Naude said he felt as if authorities had unfairly placed extra focus on him and Lifman.
Weekend Argus
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