National Prosecution Authority is getting back on track – Bernard Hotz

Johan van Loggerenberg, the former Group Executive Head of the South African Revenue Service has spoken about the toll that he had to carry with the 'rogue unit' label. Not only did he lose his job, but the charges against him, SARS Deputy Commissioner Ivan Pillay and Andries Janse van Rensburg of illegally intercepting communications at SARS led to the deterioration of his health and Van Loggerenberg could no longer afford to pay for his mother's home. Last week the criminal charges against the three were finally withdrawn by the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi. The so-called 'Rogue Unit at SARS' was a narrative used by the state capturers since 2014 and became the weapon of Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane, who is accusing Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan of illegally establishing the unit when he was SARS Commissioner. But, the fable of the rogue unit at SARS is slowly being deleted as the fightback against state capture gathers momentum. Bernard Hotz from Werksmans Attorneys who represented the three former SARS employees told Alec Hogg that the National Prosecution Authority was hopefully being restored under Batohi's guidance. – Linda van Tilburg

Bernard Hotz said the saga between the NPA and his three clients had been going on for far too long and it is very encouraging that the case had been dropped. His clients welcomed the decision. Hotz said it was taken after they considered the detailed written representations that were submitted to Batohi's office. Once the NPA had the opportunity to peruse black and white evidence as to why the case "should never ever have come out of the starting blocks at the outset"; they unanimously resolved that the charges should be withdrawn. He said the new NDPP is hopefully taking the NPA in a direction to restore the office to the strength that he would hope all law-abiding citizens in South Africa were yearning for.

Asked what this said about Batohi, Hotz said it was no secret that his clients were the victims of state capture. He said it was pure politicking and if you looked at the case as presented by the state, "there's nothing , absolutely nothing… no evidence to back it up." He said there were lists of witnesses that where going to testify against his clients, but if you looked at the docket; "there is not a smidgen of evidence." He said when Batohi came in, he and his clients took the opportunity to put forward thorough representations which dealt with each and every aspect of the charges and the charges should never have arisen at the outset.

___STEADY_PAYWALL___