NPA to review plea bargaining

THE National Prosecuting Authority has buckled under pressure in Parliament and said it would review the plea bargaining system, which in some cases resulted in fraudsters getting light sentences.

The prosecuting authority was slated by the standing committee on public accounts (Scopa) for entering into plea bargains with criminals in corruption cases involving hundreds of millions of rand.

Scopa members yesterday said the NPA allowed people convicted of fraud and corruption to walk away with light sentences.

The NPA is part of the government Anti-Corruption Task Team, which also includes the Hawks and various agencies, briefing Scopa on corruption cases under investigation.

This followed a presentation by the NPA to Scopa on corruption cases involving more than R1 billion that it investigated and prosecuted.

It said of 42 cases it had investigated, 41 were taken on plea bargains.

Deputy National Director of Public Prosecutions Nomvula Mokhatla said in some of the 42 cases there were also guilty pleas.

This meant the matters did not go to full trial, but the convictions and sentences of the criminals were agreed by both sides and confirmed by the courts.

Mokhatla said NPA head Shaun Abrahams had also looked at the issue of the review of the plea bargain system.

“The NPA is going to go back and do a review of all these cases. It is alarming to see a number of these cases were finalised through plea bargaining,” she said.

“Plea bargaining is not running away from court. I understand that the committee is looking at the amount involved. When evidence is presented in court you get the benefit the sentence will be appropriate.”

Scopa chairperson Themba Godi said the NPA would have to rethink plea bargaining because it let criminals off scot free.

“It looks like your courts are your olden days Catholic churches, (where) you go and confess your sins and you go to heaven,” said Godi. “It cannot be allowed that all the cases were finalised through plea bargaining.”

Ntombovuyo Mente of the EFF said millions of rand were stolen by criminals, and the Anti-Corruption Task Team must stop plea bargains.

She said that in one case R20 million was stolen from a municipality by a criminal who broke into its computer system.

Mente said plea bargains allowed criminals to decide how much punishment they would receive for their crimes.

ANC MP Nyami Booi said they had to deal with the issue before it became more difficult. They would not allow someone who stole R28m to go free the next day.