Sibusiso Shongwe took a
bribe when he was still Swaziland’s Justice Minister and he tried to entice a
High Court Judge and the Chief Justice Michael Ramodibedi to also take bribes, a
top Swazi judge and a senior judicial officer have testified under oath.
Their evidence was given
at the Judicial Service Commission
(JSC) hearing into Chief Justice Ramodibedi’s alleged misuse of power.
Evidence from suspended High
Court Judge Mpendulo Simelane and High Court Registrar Fikile Nhlabatsi was
presented to the JSC hearing on Tuesday (9 June 2015). Ramodibedi was charged
with three counts of misuse of office. He did not appear at the
hearing and his side of the story was not given.
The case was concluded in his absence. King Mswati III, Swaziland’s absolute monarch, will decide what happens next.
The case was concluded in his absence. King Mswati III, Swaziland’s absolute monarch, will decide what happens next.
The alleged bribery
concerned a case involving Impunzi Wholesalers and the Swaziland Revenue
Authority (SRA). The SRA demanded Impunzi paid about E10m (US$1 million) duty for
goods imported from China. It said Impunzi has been declaring the goods at
US$1.50 per item instead of US$14.50 thereby cheating the SRA of millions of
Emalangeni.
According to an account
published in the Observer Sunday, a newspaper in effect owned by King Mswati III, ‘Suspended
Judge Mpendulo Simelane has revealed how Shongwe summoned him to his home early
in the morning, where he told him of wealthy businessmen operating Impunzi
Wholesalers who were willing to pay out E2m [US$200,000] if they were helped to
win the case against SRA.
‘Mpendulo said the ex-minster
promised him a cut of E200,000 if he agreed to preside over the matter and that
the chief justice would get a share of E500,000 while Shongwe would keep the
remaining E1.3m.
‘The judge said he
refused to be part of the scheme, citing religious convictions and legal ethics
as his reasons.
‘“I told him that I do
not accept bribes and that this borders on corruption. He further told me that
he had discussed the matter with the Chief Justice and that he should allocate
the case to me. I refused the offer and left his house and proceeded to work,”
said Simelane in his affidavit submitted to the Judicial Service
Commission.’
The newspaper added, ‘Moments
later, Simelane was called by Ramodibedi who told him he had been allocated the
Impunzi case but he claims to have politely turned the CJ down by citing a
congested diary. The case was eventually allocated to Principal Judge
Stanley Maphalala – something that did not go down well with the former
minister, who feared that the judge would not give the ruling he desired.’
The newspaper reported
Swazi High Court Registrar Nhlabatsi said she was summoned to Shongwe’s
law firm offices at Eveni, where he found him with two Chinese nationals and
they were talking about the Impunzi case.
The newspaper reported, ‘She
said she was ordered to ask the judge to finalise the matter pronto but when
the judge issued his ruling, it was in favour of SRA – as feared by Shongwe.
‘The matter then went to
appeal and that is where the scales were swayed to favour Impunzi.
‘First, Simelane was
illegally sworn in as acting judge of the Supreme Court so as to preside over
the matter together with Ramodibedi and current acting CJ Bheki Maphalala.
‘The first hearing of the
matter was postponed and when it returned, Simelane had been replaced with
Judge Jacobus Annandale.
‘Ramodibedi, who the
minister said stood to benefit E500 000 if Impunzi won, was now part of those
to decide the matter.
‘Indeed, Impunzi won the
case and it later emerged that E2 million had been deposited into a trust
account of Shongwe’s law firm and he was the sole signatory of the account. The
money was deposited into the trust account on December 17 and 19, 2014 in two
separate amounts of E1 million cash.
‘The dates show that the
first deposit was made a day before the matter was due to be heard by the High
Court, where Shongwe and Ramodibedi intended for Simelane to preside over it.
‘When the E2m was
uncovered by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), which then sought an arrest
warrant for Shongwe, Ramodibedi blocked every attempt to have the ex-minister
arrested.
‘He said “an arrest
cannot be done against His Majesty’s sitting minister without proper
clearance”, and ordered that no other judge should deal with the matter without
his authorisation.
‘It was also claimed that
the money belonged to clients of Shongwe’ law firm, but it later emerged that
he had used part of it to settle personal financial obligations such as paying
for household furniture.
‘Seeing the net hovering
above him, Shongwe tried to pay an amount of E900,000, from the E2m, to the
SRA, allegedly on behalf of Impunzi but the SRA was advised by the ACC not to
dare touch that money because it was under investigation.
‘Despite the CJ’s
efforts, Shongwe was eventually arrested and is currently languishing in prison
facing two counts; one of refusing to divulge information to the ACC about
money deposited into his law firm’s account and also the theft of a file at the
High Court. He was charged with contravening the Corruption Act.’
See also
CHIEF
JUSTICE RUNS TO SUPREME COURT
CHIEF
JUSTICE CASE HEARD IN HIS ABSENCE
SWAZI
CHIEF JUSTICE FIGHTS FOR HIS JOB
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