Another Zuma prosecutor demoted

Another Gauteng High Court prosecutor tasked with the prosecution of President Jacob Zuma on charges of corruption has been demoted. Advocate George Baloyi became the second senior prosecutor on a Zuma case to receive notice of his removal as Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions. On Tuesday, The Star reported that Advocate Mutuwa Nengovhela, also a member of the team that prosecuted Zuma in the Johannesburg High Court, had been given the responsibilities of a clerk at the Family Court.

Two colleagues at the Pretoria High Court, Advocate Retha Meintjies SC and Advocate Connie Erasmus, have also been demoted and told to take up their new positions as prosecutors at magistrate courts around Pretoria on April 5. The orders have come from Director of Public Prosecutions Menzi Simelane.

Meintjies is going to the Mamelodi Magistrate's Court where she will work only on sexual offence cases, domestic violence and maintenance issues. Baloyi is to prosecute similar cases in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court. Erasmus, who worked at the now disbanded Scorpions, will become a prosecutor at the Soshanguve Regional Court.

According to National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Bulelwa Makeke, the reason for the deployment was that most of the serious crimes that plagued the country were being heard in lower courts, mostly staffed by young and inexperienced prosecutors. "The organisation has a wealth of experienced prosecutors, many of whom are in managerial positions at head office and in the DPP offices, mainly concerned with administration. How is this imbalance of resources benefiting the criminal justice system, especially our courts? "The ever increasing case backlogs and less than satisfactory conviction rates are a clear sign that the manner in which our courts are resourced with prosecutors is not yielding the positive results that Government and the Justice, Crime Prevention and Security cluster are aiming to achieve," she said.

In Soweto, the removal of Nthabiseng Motsau, the head of sexual offences cases at the Protea Magistrate's Court, could result in delay in the prosecution of a Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital doctor facing 13 cases of sexual assault. None of the prosecutors would talk to the media.

Source: IoL