Legal Articles and Guides

The leader of the Seven Angels Ministries Banele Mancoba is expected to appear in the Ngcobo Magistrate’s Court today to face charges of rape, sexual grooming and sexual exploitation. The Star reports this follows investigation by the Hawks, and the SAPS’ detectives unit and Crime Intelligence.

A corruption case against three people accused of selling places to study medicine and other health science courses at the University of KZN has been postponed to enable police to complete forensic investigations, says a Sunday Tribune report.

A magistrate has refused an application by the defence in the Chanél du Toit murder trial to recall a witness. According to a report in Die Burger, in a trial that has dragged on since 2012, William Booth applied on behalf of the accused, Johan du Toit to recall the pathologist who testified in 2015 about the time of death.

Atul Gupta has to wait until 9 March to find out whether he can access his money. An eNCA report says that is when the Free State High Court is expected to rule on his application to unfreeze R10m in his personal bank account. The NPA obtained the preservation order in February after the Gupta family allegedly looted more than R220m from the Estina Dairy Farm Project.

Former NPA boss Mxolisi Nxasana wants to return to his job to continue the prosecutorial work he was prevented from doing by its highest profile target – ex-President Jacob Zuma, says a report in The Mercury. He made this clear in written submissions filed with the Constitutional Court on his behalf.

The National Director of Public Prosecutions will confirm his decision relating to the corruption charges against Jacob Zuma to the lawyers of the former President and the affected parties by 15 March, the NPA said yesterday.

Five prosecutors analysing former President Jacob Zuma’s representations to avoid his day in court have recommended all charges against him be re-instated, according to City Press. It says they are believed to have signed a memorandum which was handed to National Director of Public Prosecutions Shaun Abrahams on Friday, informing him of their recommendations.

A former project manager for the KZN Department of Rural Development and Land Reform has been found guilty of stealing land and livestock awarded to labour tenants as part of the government’s land redistribution programme, says a Sunday Tribune report.

The North West legislature has laid criminal charges against the head of the province's Health Department, Dr Thabo Lekalakala, following a marathon interrogation over a contract given to a Gupta-linked company, which also paid for his junket to India in 2017.

Former President Jacob Zuma’s son Duduzane, who is reportedly hiding out in Dubai, tried to strike a deal with law enforcement agencies before going on the run. According to a Sunday Times report quoting officials with intimate knowledge of the case the ‘unofficial’ negotiations involving the 35-year-old delayed the Hawks’ swoop on the Gupta family on Wednesday – which may have helped the Gupta brothers evade arrest in the Estina fairy farm project cazse.

Civil rights organisation AfriForum is to submit an urgent application to the Constitutional Court today to put aside former President Jacob Zuma’s last attempt to escape criminal prosecution. A week ago, just a few days before his resignation, Zuma published the regulations with the mandate to which the state capture commission of inquiry must comply.

Ajay Gupta‚ the patriarch of the embattled Gupta family and friend of former President Jacob Zuma‚ is ‘on the run’ and protected by a team of heavily armed bodyguards, claim media reports. The Cape Times quotes Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi as saying: ‘We know he has bodyguards and we would like to warn them they could be facing arrest for protecting a fugitive.’

Victor Mlotshwa, who was threatened with death and forced into a coffin by two farm workers in Mpumalanga, has vowed to challenge their bid to appeal their sentence, reports TimesLIVE. Theo Jackson and Willem Oosthuizen were granted leave to appeal their sentence on 2 February and will present their case before the SCA in the hope of having their convictions and jail sentences overturned.

Former acting Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane, his wife and a car dealer are expected to hand themselves over to police watchdog Ipid this morning to be charged with corruption. News24 says it has reliably learnt that the suspended general will then appear in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court.

Olivia Maketi, the woman assaulted by a member of the ANC outside Luthuli House, has opened a criminal case at Orange Farm police station outside Johannesburg. An eNCA report says Maketi was beaten up during a clash between a group aligned around defending the ANC headquarters from outsiders, and groups, including Black First Land First, opposed to President Jacob Zuma leaving office.