Johannesburg - The former Scorpions director, who was cleared of stealing from National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) funds, allegedly tried to plant a bribe on a prosecutor handling his case.
Malala Geophrey Ledwaba also allegedly accused his former boss and former national director of public prosecutions Leonard McCarthy of having created a “Stratcom boers and third forces” within the NPA to deal with him because they had opposing management styles and political views.
Ledwaba, who in January received legal relief following a bruising 12-year battle of theft and fraud against his employer (the NPA), appeared in the Johannesburg Regional Court yesterday to face fraud, obstruction of justice and corruption charges, and an alternative charge of offering an unauthorised gratification. These are linked to the bribe he allegedly offered to the prosecutor. He has been out on bail.
A charge sheet, seen by The Star, revealed that while still facing a theft case in October 2012, Ledwaba sent his employee Elvis Manyama (second accused) to deposit R10000 into the bank account belonging to Willem Johannes van Zyl, a senior State advocate at Pretoria’s Specialised Crime Court. At the time, Van Zyl was one of three prosecutors handling Ledwaba’s theft case, which started in 2006. He won it on appeal in January.
The deposit into Van Zyl’s account was made a few days before Ledwaba’s trial was set to begin. Court papers stated that the following day, Ledwaba called the NPA’s anti-corruption hotline and made a “false” report that Van Zyl was involved in “acts proscribed by the provisions of the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Activities Act, 2004 (Act of 2004)”.
“The NPA instituted an investigation of the allegations and also made arrangements with SAPS to set up a sting operation in order to arrest Van Zyl,” the charge sheet stated.
Van Zyl told the court how he spent a couple of days trying to establish the identity of the depositor through the police.
He also informed his superiors.
The prosecutor said he was later informed that a complaint had been received by the NPA’s integrity management unit with allegations that he had taken a bribe.
Ledwaba and Manyama pleaded not guilty on all counts. The trial resumes in October.
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