SCA dismisses prosecutor's damages claim against NPA
The NPA has avoided a possible R2m damages claim lodged by one of its own senior prosecutors after it tried to prosecute him in 2016.
A BusinessLIVE report says the NPA had charged senior prosecutor Sijoyi Robert Mdhlovu with fraud after he refused to pursue an armed robbery case.
However, the case was thrown out by the court due to lack of evidence brought by the NPA.
A few years later, Mdhlovu sued his bosses for malicious prosecution, seeking almost R2m in damages. He was successful in the High Court in 2022 but the NPA appealed to the SCA.
The SCA has now agreed with the NPA, finding the NPA’s failure to prosecute him in 2016 did not mean the grounds in the first place were ‘malicious’.
It found that Deputy DPP Elaine Moonsamy – who laid the charges against Mdhlovu – had acted appropriately.
‘Viewed holistically and in context,’ wrote SCA Judge Elias Matojane for a unanimous court, ‘the information at Moonsamy’s disposal at the time she decided to prosecute established reasonable and probable cause in the form of grounds for suspicion of guilt on which she was entitled to act.’
He said even though the criminal prosecution failed that was not grounds to claim damages from the NPA.
‘The fact that (Mdhlovu) was subsequently discharged,’ wrote Matojane, ‘does not negate the earlier existence of reasonable and probable cause.’
Matojane therefore overturned the High Court’s findings with costs.
Article disclaimer: While we have made every effort to ensure the accuracy of this article, it is not intended to provide final legal advice as facts and situations will differ from case to case, and therefore specific legal advice should be sought with a lawyer.
