Investigator follows Eric Nzimande’s money trail
The lead investigator into the corruption case against suspended KwaZulu-Natal regional court president Eric Nzimande said he had subpoenaed records from casinos from the Eastern Cape to Newcastle and from a “loan shark” after allegations that Nzimande had a gambling problem.
Col Jason McGray gave evidence on Thursday at a disciplinary hearing set up by the Magistrate’s Commission in which he is facing 162 charges of misconduct.
The charges include allegations he took money from lawyers in return for acting regional court magistrate stints, that he demanded sexual favours from at least one and gambled during office hours.
During the course of the hearing it has become evident that Nzimande, through his lawyer, Ravindra Maniklall, will attempt to quash the documentary evidence against him on the basis that acting magistrate Lindelwa Gumede, who laid the complaint against him had subsequently withdrawn it.
This, Maniklall said, meant the commission should have cleared his name; instead it had continued to violate his constitutional right to privacy.
It is against this backdrop the commission called McGray to detail how he had registered a criminal docket in the matter and obtained warrants for Nzimande’s bank accounts, cellphone records, the records from casinos and from moneylender Five Star Cash Loans — and how these records were handed to the commission.
Nzimande claims Gumede herself was under investigation by the commission at the time. She believed that Nzimande was behind the complaint against her and had “retaliated” by laying a complaint against him.
In essence, she said she had been forced to give him money — R140,000 — in return for acting magistrate stints. It was either that or she had to perform “sexual favours”. She said he had once sent her a picture of his genitals.
She said in her complaint that others were being forced to do the same thing, though she would not name names.
McGray said he had been asked to investigate the matter by the head of detectives in KwaZulu-Natal at that time and, if it was required, to form a provincial task team. At that time only an inquiry, as opposed to a criminal docket, had been opened, and it was his job to investigate the validity of Gumede’s claims.
He said he understood Gumede had withdrawn her complaint because the commission had asked her questions about her absenteeism, which she was not prepared to answer.
“When I read her affidavit, to be honest, it sounded like there may have been some bad blood because she wasn’t reappointed. She might not have been innocent, except if she was forced to pay the money. Otherwise it was a corrupter/corruptee relationship,” McGray said.
Because she had said others were involved, he had subpoenaed both Nzimande’s and her bank statements and telephone records. He noticed a “lot of cash” deposits in Nzimande’s accounts, plus money going to Five Star Cash Loans.
He then managed to link certain names on the accounts with certain people who were acting magistrates at the time of the payments. One, ZW Ngwenya, was said to be an acting magistrate who had at the same time acted as a defence attorney in a rhino poaching case, he said.
The evidence he gathered, while circumstantial, seemed to support Gumede’s version and the “allegations of corruption” still remained, though she had withdrawn her statement, he said.
His impression was that she said Nzimande had paid her back R40,000 “so now she is going to keep quiet”.
He said the commission was the complainant in the matter and he had handed over all the records he received at the request of the judge who chaired the commission at the time.
Nzimande has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
During the hearing, Maniklall suggested some of the money was “loans” and other deposits in his account were because he was running a stokvel.
The disciplinary committee is being chaired by retired Supreme Court of Appeal judge Jeremiah Shongwe.
It has been set down to run until mid-March.
Nzimande is also facing related criminal charges of corruption. He is due to appear in the high court in Durban in May.