Let’s pray for a ‘domino effect’ of justice for corruption cases – Chuck Stephens

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Chuck Stephens of the Desmond Tutu Centre for Leadership is a popular columnist at BizNews. In June, he was arrested and thrown into an overcrowded jail cell for a land grab dispute that has been going on for five years. “They refused to take a statement from me,” he wrote. “They just threw me in jail for three days and nights. I caught Covid. I am 70 years old – go figure the risks and probabilities. But I survived this attempt on my life. If it was not intentional, it was certainly reckless. Attempted murder, by law.” The charges laid against Stephens have now, miraculously, been withdrawn. In this latest article, Stephens says he hopes that this will be the beginning of a domino effect and that similar cases will share the same fate. – Claire Badenhorst 

First domino down

By Chuck Stephens*

God is our refuge, our refuge, and our strength

In trouble, a very present help!

Thanks be to God for answered prayer!

The unknown criminal charges against me that triggered my arrest in June were withdrawn today. Case closed.

This bodes well for other cases – both those at the pending adjudication stage and others that are still approaching trial later this month.

Please pray for a domino effect that will knock them all down our way. All the way through to September 30th when we take on the criminal syndicate AS SUCH.  There are five respondents – Respondents One, Two, Three, Four, and Five. In varying degrees, they are all networked together into the various corruption cases that we have exposed in Mpumalanga.

Not surprisingly, the police are furious. They are caught in a vice between the deception of the instigators and the lucidity of the prosecutors. Yesterday we demanded a document that that been kept hidden from us since April. At first, it was probably just bungling. But as the police investigators got to work AFTER my arrest, they must have realized that once I got my hands on that written judgment dated April 14th, they were cooked. I demanded it yesterday by raising my voice in the courtroom and standing my ground. The magistrate ordered that the file be brought to him by a clerk. Then he located the document and sent the clerk out to photocopy it for me. He then referred me to a senior prosecutor in Kabokweni to validate that the judgment was final. He re-scheduled the case for today.

While I visited Kabokweni court, the prosecutor met with the instigators yesterday afternoon in the light of this document that had been shrouded for five months. Then the prosecutors decided to pull back.

When I arrived at court this morning, waiting to hear what the charges were, I was informed that they were withdrawing the case. They had not realised until this shrouded judgment came to light that a protection order had expired automatically in April. The police arrested me in June for allegedly violating a protection order that had expired! The lengths these people will go to in order to intimidate and try to silence you is amazing.

So we wait for another judgment promised for Monday morning, brought to you by the same instigators. Please pray with us that the dominos will keep falling our way.

Let Justice roll on like a river

And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

  • Chuck Stephens works at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Leadership. He has written this article in his own capacity.

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