Africa-Press – Namibia. A TRIAL in which senior Windhoek-based lawyer Dirk Conradie and a co-accused are facing charges under the Anti-Corruption Act has been pending for too long and needs to be concluded, a judge said in the Windhoek High Court yesterday.
Judge Thomas Masuku made the remark when Conradie made his latest appearance in the dock, before his case was again postponed – this time to 28 March 2022.
The matter was postponed because Conradie’s co-accused, Sara Damases, was not present in court, due to illness. Their trial is scheduled to continue during the week from 28 March, and the week from 9 May next year.
Masuku said the case before him has been pending “for an inordinately long time”, and that no testimony in the trial has been heard during this year. The case needs to be finalised, he said.
No witnesses have testified in the trial since February last year. In the meantime, trial proceedings have been hampered by the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns and travel restrictions.
Conradie (62) and Damases (57) are being prosecuted in connection with allegations that Conradie in June 2012 offered to use his influence as chairperson of the board of directors of cellphone company MTC to have an advertising contract worth about N$60 million awarded to the advertising company DV8 Saatchi & Saatchi, if DV8’s directors agreed to take Damases on board as a black economic empowerment partner.
Conradie and Damases are jointly charged with one count of corruptly soliciting gratification as a reward for using influence in procuring a contract, and a charge of attempting or conspiring to contravene sections of the Anti-Corruption Act.
Conradie alone is also charged with corruptly using his former position as MTC board chairperson to obtain gratification for himself or another person.
Conradie and Damases, who both remain free on a warning from the court, pleaded not guilty to the charges in the High Court in March 2016. The first testimony in their trial was heard only in May 2018.
Conradie is being represented by South African senior counsel Vas Soni, instructed by Slysken Makando. Defence lawyer Vetu Uanivi is representing Damases. Deputy prosecutor general Ed Marondedze is representing the state.
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