Gerrie Nel sinks teeth into mine fraud

CONSIDERING PROSECUTION

Building a solid case after slow progress of an investigation into salt mine permit forgery.

SCA was dismayed at the slow progress of a criminal investigation into salt mine permit forgery.

Advocate Gerrie Nel, nicknamed The Bulldog for his tenacity as a prosecutor, is considering a private action against former ANC chairperson John Block and his codirectors in a salt mining company in connection with a forged mining permit.

Nel is best known for prosecuting former para-Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius for the murder of Reva Steenkamp. He and a team of top investigators have joined AfriForum and established a private prosecutions unit.

Private prosecutions are only allowed if the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) decides not to prosecute a case and upon it issuing a nolle prosequi certificate to that effect – which is only valid for three months.

SA Soutwerke directors who are in Nel’s crosshairs include Block; former mayor of the Khara Hais municipality Gift van Staden and Upington businessperson Andre Blaauw.

The case stems from a dispute between SA Soutwerke and Saamwerk Soutwerke about who was entitled to mine salt on Vrysoutpan in the Kalahari, outside Upington, between 2008 and 2011.

The Northern Cape High Court found in 2010 that SA Soutwerke’s mining permit was forged and ruled that Saamwerk was the rightful owner of the rights. SA Soutwerke vacated the pan in 2011 after mining it since 2008.

Despite the Northern Cape High Court finding the permit had been forged and that Block’s company must have known about it, the NPA confirmed in 2014 that it issued a nolle prosequi certificate to Jalie du Toit, then a Saamwerk director.

This despite the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), in dismissing SA Soutwerke’s appeal, expressing its dismay at the slow progress of a criminal investigation into the permit’s forgery. By then, it was two years since Saamwerk Soutwerke had laid criminal charges.

The SCA ordered both judgments be delivered to the national police commissioner, national director of public prosecutions and minister of minerals and energy.

Du Toit in 2014 placed an advert in local community newspaper Die Gemsbok, saying: “It took the state seven years to not prosecute SA Soutwerke”, and vowed to do it himself.

He said Blaauw’s affidavit admitted the directors were aware of the forgery.

Du Toit failed to proceed and his sons recently approached Nel for assistance.

If Nel’s team find the case is solid, they’ll apply for another nolle prosequi certificate and proceed with a private prosecution.

Nel said the question is, who perpetrated the forgery and who benefitted from it. The crux of the matter is whether the SA Soutwerke directors were aware of the forgery and were mining without a valid permit.

Possible charges include fraud, forgery and uttering as well as illegal mining, Nel told Moneyweb.

The crux of the matter is whether the directors were aware of the forgery and were mining without a valid permit.

Gerrie Nel Advocate