Cape Town — Suspended chief magistrate, Desmond Nair, was dealt a blow when the application he made to have corruption charges dropped against him, was denied.
Nair’s case was heard in front of the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court where Nair was expected to hear his fate.His lawyer, Danie Dorfling, said they felt the case had insufficient evidence for a criminal trial, TimesLIVE reported.
We attacked the credibility of the state witness in the disciplinary hearing he attended and said they wouldn’t be able to put together a proper case in a criminal trial,” Dorfling said.
According to National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Investigating Directorate spokesperson, Sindisiwe Seboka, the matter has been postponed to to March 15 for Nair’s legal team to consider appealing the decision to the national director of public prosecutions.
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Nair currently faces corruption charges of for having allegedly received gratification to the value of R200 000 in security upgrades from African Global Operations or Global Technology Systems (formerly known as BOSASA) in September 2016, IOL said.
The upgrades involve an electric fence, an alarm system, perimeter beams and a CCTV system at Nair’s Pretoria home in Silverton,” Seboka said.
“The State alleges that Nair was granted the upgrades in order to act in a dishonest, improper, or unlawful manner.”
In his response Nair alleged that he received the benefit not based on any contract, but free of charge, while he maintains there was a fixed maximum contract price.
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
