Why did the NPA withdraw charges against Zizi Kodwa?

The withdrawal of corruption-related charges against former sports, arts and culture minister Zizi Kodwa adds to a list of high-profile state capture cases the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) has not been able to successfully prosecute.

That the reasons behind the NPA’s about turn on the Kodwa decision have not been made public further hampers its stated objective of transparency.

In whose interest is it to keep the public in the dark about why the Shamila Batohi-led NPA suddenly withdrew the charges? Surely not the public’s?

The NPA made the most of this case when it charged Kodwa, and his co-accused Jehan Mackay, re-affirming that they had a case to answer over allegations that he accepted bribes of R1.6 million from Mackay, an EOH executive, in exchange for securing contracts.

It’s one of high-profile cases emanating from the Zondo Commission where the malfeasance in the public sector was laid bare. The scale of this rot suggests that by now some of those implicated should be behind bars. Alas!

Remember the collapse of the NPA’s fraud and corruption case involving former Eskom CEO Matshela Koko in the Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Mpumalanga.

In that case, Judge Nompumelelo Gusha concluded that the State’s case had fallen short, failing to establish a connection between the accused, including the alleged Gupta-linked Iqbal Sharma, and the crimes associated with the case. None of the accused in that case have been hauled before the court, as the NPA had promised.

The NPA was dealt another blow when Free State High Court Acting Deputy Judge President Celeste Reinders struck off the roll the Estina Dairy Farm project fraud case, where about R280 million of state funds was looted by service providers, allegedly with the help of government officials. You don’t have to guess where that case is now.

An organisation that has been limping from one bruising defeat to another should be forthcoming about its decisions if it is to enjoy public trust. The Kodwa case demonstrates that the opposite is true.

Cape Times