Prosecutor denies corruption
DETAILS regarding the corruption charge against a State prosecutor from Kimberley, who allegedly requested money from a suspect to have charges against him withdrawn, emerged in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court yesterday.
Anele Kohlani’s appearance in the accused box follows an incident in April 2015, where he allegedly demanded between R1 500 and R2 500 from Isaac Tholloane, an accused in an assault case, in exchange for charges to be withdrawn against Tholloane.
Shortly after the money was requested from Tholloane, he reported the matter to the Hawks, who set up a trap to record the transaction where Kohlani allegedly received an amount of R 1500 from Tholloane.
Kohlani was arrested in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court only minutes after the alleged transaction took place – with the R1 500 still in his pocket.
Tholloane was a suspect in an assault case, for an incident which took place in Greenpoint on April 3 2015. Counter charges were opened by both parties. The matter went to court and on April 15 Tholloane apparently told Kohlani that both parties had agreed to withdraw the charges.
Tholloane yesterday took the witness stand and gave the court further details about the alleged conversation where Kohlani requested the money from him.
“The accused (Kohlani) told me that my case was very serious and that I could be sentenced to as much as 15 years imprisonment. He said I should give him between R1 500 and R2 500 so that he could withdraw the charges. I told him that I didn’t have that kind of money but that I would make a plan, as I did not want to go to jail.
“He asked me what I would say if I asked for the money, as this was a secret that only the two of us should know about. I told him that my son would be getting paid on the 25th and that I would tell him that I needed the money for new tyres on my vehicle.
“While the charge was supposed to be withdrawn, according to our arrangement, he instead postponed the matter to a date when I would have the money to pay him,” Tholloane said.
Tholloane then testified that he went to the office of the Hawks in Kimberley and informed them about the alleged request for a bribe. They fitted him with an audio-visual recording device and supplied him with R2 500 to give Kohlani during a “trap” set up on April 28 2015. Only R1 500 was given to Kohlani as it is alleged he claimed this would suffice.
On the recording, which was played in court yesterday, Tholloane can be seen entering the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court and later meeting and following Kohlani to his office on the second floor of the building, where the alleged handover of the R1 500 to Kohlani took place. While the actual exchange of notes is not visible, Kohlani can be heard helping Tholloane count out R1 500.
Within seconds after leaving the office, officials from the Hawks are seen approaching and taking Kohlani back into his office. Here he produces the R1 500 from his left pocket and officials compare the notes with copies they had made earlier.
Kohlani was arrested shortly after and charged with corruption.
His legal representative, Ferdi van Heerden, yesterday claimed that the R1 500 was money his client lent to Tholloane, but Tholloane denied that he had ever met Kohlani before his first court appearance in April 2015.
The trial is expected to continue in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court today.