Durban - It has been 15 years since an Umdloti businessman was murdered, but the man convicted of the killing is yet to see the inside of a prison cell.
Despite going through a 100-day trial with a total of 40 witnesses, 1 360 pages of exhibits, 600 pages of written arguments and a guilty judgment, 47-year-old Pranesh Heralall still walks free.
In April 2011, Heralall and hitman Khethukuthala “Bobo” Chamane were found guilty of killing the former’s business partner, Deenadayalan Govender.
During the trial, it emerged that Heralall hired Chamane to kill Govender in order to cash in on a business insurance policy of almost R600 000.
Each business partner took a policy on each other to ensure their joint fuel business, Larkspur Farm Services CC, would be debt-free if either died.
On July 16, 2004, Charmane walked up to Govender, 59, who worked as a building contractor at a site in Fairview Road in Verulam, and shot him in the face. He died at the scene and Chamane fled in a getaway car.
Heralall and Charmane were later charged with murder - alternatively conspiracy to commit murder.
Their accomplice, Riaz Sathar, turned State witness.
Heralall was subsequently sentenced to 25 years imprisonment and Chamane 20 years’ of jail time.
Both accused applied for leave to appeal. Heralall chose to appeal against the conviction only while Charmane chose to appeal against his conviction and sentence. Judge Thumba Pillay subsequently granted Heralall leave to appeal against the conviction, citing substantial and compelling circumstances to warrant his release.
Heralall has been out on R500 000 bail since. Chamane died before his appeal could be heard.
Heralall’s appeal was heard in August at the Durban High Court and on Friday, judgment was passed at the Pietermaritzburg High Court.
The appeal was dismissed by the KZN Judge President, Achmat Jappie.
He found that the court did not err or commit a misdirection when it concluded that the State proved the guilt of the accused beyond a reasonable doubt.
“As there is no appeal against sentence, there is no basis for this court to interfere with the finding of the court and in the result, the appeal is dismissed and the conviction of the appellant is confirmed,” said Judge President Jappie in his written judgment.
He described the evidence at the trial as “voluminous”.
Judge Jappie, however, stated that the outcome of the appeal was dependent on whether the court was correct when it found that three of the State witnesses - Mohammed Riaz Sathar, Naeem Omar Ally, and Shafik Limbada - were credible and when it rejected the evidence of Heralall and his witnesses.
Heralall bail of R500 000 was extended and he was given a grace period of five days, which will end on Friday, where he can decide if he wants to take his fight to the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Sathar, a taxi owner, testified that he knew Heralall, a fellow taxi owner, and they were friends.
Early in 2004, he said Heralall asked him if he could find someone to kill Govender.
In March or April 2004, while seated in his vehicle at the Verulam Taxi Rank, Sathar testified that Chamane approached him with a watch for sale and overheard the conversation about “the job”.
Chamane offered his services for R15 000.
The next witness, Ally, admitted that he and Heralall were involved in many shady deals.
Ally testified that Heralall told him he wanted to get rid of Govender.
He said one morning in July 2004, Heralall told him “I winded the ballie”- meaning Govender was killed.
The third witness, Limbada, also a taxi owner and Heralall’s friend, testified that he found out that Govender’s family hired a private investigator, who lived in the same block of flats as him.
Heralall then convinced Limbada to offer the private investigator R20 000 not to involve him in his investigation.
During Heralall’s evidence, he said he was introduced to Govender via his father.
On the day of the killing in 2004, Heralall said he was returning from
St Augustine’s Hospital when Govender’s brother, Sagren, called and told him his sibling had been shot and robbed.
He went on to speak about a dispute that arose between him and Govender’s wife following the policy and the relationship turning sour.
Rumours circulated that he was behind the attack.
Heralall said Limbada led him to believe the private investigator was paid by Govender’s family to implicate him in the killing.
He said Limbada convinced him that he was capable of fabricating a case against him and he, therefore, paid the bribe to stop the investigation against him.
The court, however, rejected his evidence and found he (Heralall) was an unconvincing witness and a “manipulator par excellence”.
“...the trial court quite correctly concluded that the appellant (Heralall) paid monies to Singh to avoid being implicated in the murder of the deceased. A conspectus of the evidence in so far as it involved Chamane and Sathar, puts the matter beyond doubt... it is our view that the court correctly concluded that the appellant, Sathar and Chamane, were involved in a conspiracy, which led to the murder of the deceased,” added Judge Jappie.
Heralall was given a grace period of five days to decide if he wanted to take his fight to the Supreme Court of Appeal, which he plans to do.
Should this fail, he would have to report directly to Westville Prison.
Govender’s son, Killan, said: “We expected him to serve time for the crime he committed, instead he is buying time.”
He said Heralall was close to the family and it was devastating when they found out what he did.
“Now with the amount of time that has passed, all we feel is frustrated and disheartened.
“Yes, we understand how the courts work and I guess if you have money, you are going to try every avenue to avoid going to jail.
“We have come to terms with what has happened and trust the law to take its course.”
Killan, however, saluted the state for its outstanding work in the case and said it was no indictment on them that his father’s killer still roamed free.
“The evidence they led was superb and they did a great job.”