Pretoria - A senior prosecutor told the Mokgoro inquiry that suspended Special Director of Public Prosecutions Lawrence Mrwebi protected former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli from prosecution by withdrawing cases which even had prima facie evidence.
Advocate Jan Ferreira was testifying on Thursday at the Mokgoro inquiry which was instituted by President Cyril Ramaphosa to probe Mrwebi and Nomgcobo Jiba's fitness to hold office.
Ferreira discussed how Mrwebi withdrew charges against Mdluli relating to the two BMWs he secured with a loan from Atlantis Nissan, the which company supplied vehicles for Crime Intelligence.
He said some of the reasons given by Mwrebi to withdraw Mdluli's charges was that police were not entitled to investigate the matter and should be handled by the Inspector General of Intelligence.
Ferreira said he disagreed with Mrwebi's view.
"Police are constitutionally mandated to investigate crime. They’re allowed to subpoena any evidence from any person."
He said all parties believed police should investigate the case including prosecutors and former Hawks head Anwa Dramat.
Ferreira said he and former prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach wrote a memo on the strength of the case.
"We believed there was a prima facie case against Mdluli and we were concerned he was being protected from prosecution," he said.
Mrwebi's decision to withdraw the case against Mdluli has been reviewed and set aside. However, to date, the matter has not been re-enrolled.
Ferreira said there are several prosecutors who believe there is a strong case against Mdluli - but now the SAPS National Commissioner is refusing to declassify certain documents.
"There is no reason why he shouldn’t declassify," Ferreira said.