‘K’ word lands businessman in hot water

POLITICALLY-connected businessman Peter-Paul Ngwenya will find out next Thursday whether or not his application for a discharge from the case he is facing – which revolves around a fight with Investec CEO designate Fani Titi – has been successful.

The Randburg Magistrate’s Court yesterday heard arguments from Ngwenya for a discharge in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act, which states that a court may‚ at the end of the prosecution’s case‚ return a verdict of not guilty if it is of the opinion that there is no evidence that the accused committed the offences in question.

This application was opposed by the prosecution‚ which said Ngwenya had a case to answer.

Ngwenya‚ who spent five years on Robben Island‚ is facing two charges of contravening protection orders obtained against him by Titi and business partner Aqeel Patel.

He also faces a charge of crimen injuria for referring to Titi as a “QwaQwa k **** r” in an SMS.

The charges of contravening the protection orders emanate from a visit Ngwenya made to MRC Media offices in Sandhurst‚ where he is a director‚ on June 24 2016‚ when an upset Ngwenya told an employee at MRC Media‚ Eucharist Mabena‚ to “go get my money‚ otherwise I will kill these dogs”.

In his application for a discharge‚ defence counsel Benny Buthelezi said Ngwenya did not contravene the protection orders‚ which did not specify that Ngwenya could not go to the MRC Media offices in Sandhurst.

The protection orders specified Ngwenya could not visit the homes of Titi and Patel and Titi’s business address‚ where Titi was director of Investec Limited at the time.

The defence also said Titi did not lay a complaint of crimen injuria for Ngwenya’s use of the k-word with the police, and that the prosecution did not have the right to lay that charge against Ngwenya.

However‚ prosecutor Yusuf Baba said although Titi never laid a complaint of crimen injuria against Ngwenya‚ the prosecution had information of the crime in the docket and was obligated to enter the arena in order to protect the rights of individuals.

Baba said the court was not to decide on whether there was evidence before court‚ but had to decide whether there was a case for the accused to answer.

Baba said, during his testimony‚ that Titi explained what the use of the ‘K’ word against him meant. Titi said he felt insulted and dehumanised.

“The word k **** r is hate speech‚” Baba said.

Baba said Buthelezi was trying to put a scenario before the court that Ngwenya’s visit to MRC Media offices was peaceful.

“The accused was aggressive. Security had to be called. Mr Titi and Mr Patel had to be told to lock themselves where they were. There is evidence to reject the application by the defence for a discharge‚” Baba said.

The conflict between Ngwenya and Titi‚ who had been friends for 20 years‚ stemmed from a multimillion-rand deal that went sour. Ngwenya claims that Titi owes him close to R54-million‚ which has been disputed by Titi’s camp.

If Ngwenya’s application for a discharge is not successful‚ he has to answer to the case against him. —