Africa-Press – South-Africa. The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in Limpopo believes the delays in concluding court cases, including gender-based violence (GBV) matters, are due to other role-players in the criminal justice system.
The NPA’s director of public prosecutions, advocate Ivy Thenga, said GBV cases – mostly rape – were often delayed by the late processing of DNA tests, among others.
“We take these (GBV) cases very seriously. Yes, we have a backlog. Even when we are sitting here, there will be a court case of GBV somewhere. There is an issue of DNA. If we bring these matters before court [without DNA results], we will fail.
“We have many role-players in court, including interpreters. We have to hunt for interpreters. Some foreign nationals claim they cannot speak English – even if they understand it well – just to delay the court process.
Thenga said:
Thenga said a chief prosecutor had been tasked with probing the underlying problems as well as implementing interventions to address the delay and the backlog of cases.
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She said an example of a case being delayed was the case of Makoena Mabusela-Leshabane and her business partner, Tebogo Mphuti.
The two women were shot and killed in 2020, in a crime allegedly masterminded by Makoena’s husband, Thabo Stanley Leshabane.
In the Polokwane High Court early this month, Leshabane told the judge he was too sick to stand trial, leading to the postponement of the case. He has since been admitted for a mental assessment at his request.
Thenga, speaking at a media briefing on Wednesday, said the newly-established Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit (SCCU) – made up of two senior State advocates, three junior State advocates, and a deputy director of public prosecutions – was now in operation.
The SCCU will work closely with the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU) and will adopt a prosecution-guided model.
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She also highlighted that two senior State advocates were now serving under the Organised Crime Unit to tackle crimes at the three border posts.
“The Organised Crime Unit has been set up to deal with aggravated robberies, cash-in-transit offences, gang-related offences, illicit mining, and illicit cigarettes, drug dealing, and human trafficking,” Thenga said.
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