Aiyer to face Dunywa in court

A SENIOR State advocate from the provincial office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is taking the reins in the criminal case against former Durban Hawks boss, Colonel Rajen Aiyer.

Aiyer – who is facing charges of perjury and defeating the ends of justice – appeared briefly in the Durban Magistrate’s Court yesterday morning, when Ncedile Dunywa announced that he would be handling the matter for the State.

Dunywa has worked on a number of high-profile matters, including the R144 million “Amigo” racketeering, corruption and fraud case involving Uruguayan businessman Gaston Savoi.

He was also involved in a case against five men accused of plotting to kill then KwaZulu-Natal premier, Dr Zweli Mkhize, in 2010.

Yesterday, Aiyer’s case was transferred to the regional court and adjourned to early next month.

Aiyer had been asked to surrender his passport after his arrest, but yesterday the court heard that he had a “close relative” who was unwell and living overseas and that Aiyer might be requesting permission to travel to visit him in the coming weeks.

Magistrate Vanitha Armu said such a request would be dealt with if and when it became necessary.

Aiyer was initially arrested along with Captain Dhanpal Mundree, but yesterday Dunywa said the State was withdrawing the charges against Mundree. He did not say why.

Aiyer and Mundree were arrested by investigators from the Independent Police Investigative Directorate in early August, on charges relating to a false statement made in connection with a robbery case in which Aiyer was one of the complainants.

They were both released on R1 000 bail.

Aiyer was at one stage thought to be central to the State’s case against officers from the Durban Organised Crime Unit, who have been charged in connection with allegedly running a “death squad”. However, he does not feature on the list of witnesses that was filed with the indictment.