ANC MP Bongani Bongo has been vindicated by the courts. On Friday, the Western Cape High Court ruled in favour of the defendant and threw out the 42-year-old’s corruption case.
Cape Town court finds Bongani Bongo not guilty
The judgment, seasoned reporter Karyn Maughan explains, granted Bongo acquittal of the corruption charge, per Section 174 of the Criminal Procedures Act.
JP John Hlophe about to rule on Fmr State Security Min Bongani Bongo’s application for a section 174 discharge of corruption case against him.
— Karyn Maughan (@karynmaughan) February 26, 2021
If Hlophe grants discharge, which it seems likely he will do, case against Bongo will be thrown out without him having to defend himself
It’s not to say that, in its deliberations, the court found no reasonable doubt in Bongo’s guilt. It essentially means that the State failed to present a convincing case.
Bongo was charged with corruption in late 217 when it was alleged that he had attempted to bribe Advocate Ntuthuzelo Vanara, the then-evidence leader of Parliament’s inquiry into Eskom.
Much of the State’s case was built on hearsay and no actual documentation that linked Bongo to the alleged bribery was put forth. The defendant’s legal representatives, led by renowned lawyer Mike Hellens SC, submitted a Section 174 application which Judge John Hlophe approved on Friday.
Hellens predicted the outcome of the ruling in his interviews days prior. Speaking to reporters, Hellens ridiculed the State’s handling of the case, describing its evidence as so bad that “only if Mr Bongo went into the witness box and said ’I plead guilty’ could he ever be convicted.”
“In other words, there is no evidence upon which the court might convict because the quality of the evidence is so poor,” he added.
The NPA has yet to issue an official statement on its reaction to the judgment.