Former Sports, Art and Culture Minister, Zizi Kodwa made his latest appearance in the Palm Ridge Specialised Crimes Court recently, with the state intending to provide six witnesses to testify against him.
Zizi and his associate, Jehan Mackay, were charged with contravention of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act as well as contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act. The pair was released on R30 000 bail and Zizi subsequently resigned from his position as Minister of Sports, Arts and Culture.
During the proceedings, Zizi’s legal representative, Advocate Zola Majavu, said the defence received the list of witnesses who will testify in the trial from the state, The Citizen reported.
The matter was later postponed to 21 August for further consultations and instructions and the pair’s bail conditions were extended.
“From the submissions made, the list of six names of state witnesses will then bring the bail condition of no contact in operation. Please refrain from making contact with those witnesses,” the magistrate said.
“If for whatever reason they come across your path, please avoid them or turn around and walk away for the time being under the circumstances.”
[WATCH] Former sports minister Zizi Kodwa and co-accused Jehan Mackay appear at the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on charges of over R1.6 million corruption. The matter has been postponed to August 21. pic.twitter.com/bRyOFEMzu7
— Newzroom Afrika (@Newzroom405) July 23, 2024
Speaking to the media outside the court, National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson, Phindi Mjonondwane, did not provide details of Zola’s request for more information from the state.
“We are not in a position to divulge the contents of his request. It becomes confidential between the NPA and the accused person.
“What we can indicate, as the NPA, is that all these interlocutory applications need to be dealt with and finalised before we can move to the trial stage,” she said.
Phindi warned that there might be delays should the accused decide to make representations to the NPA.
According to TimesLIVE, Phindi said the NPA has been ready to proceed with the trial and when the matter was enrolled they were in a position to disclose the contents of the dockets.
The case has been remanded to the 21st August.
This follows the state’s request additional time to go through the defence’s request for further particulars.
Kodwa’s lawyer, Zola Majavu, says he’s hoping the state is able to reply before next court appearance. @Alpha_Mero25 pic.twitter.com/PoIYgttfSB
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) July 23, 2024
“The accused are within their rights to exercise recourse mechanisms. Accused No 1’s (Zizi) lawyer indicated they will use the time provided by the court to decide whether they will bring representations,” she said.
It is alleged that Jehan paid bribes to Zizi of up to R1.6 million between April 2015 and February 2018. The money was used for “luxury” SUVs and accommodation and was paid to Zizi for his intervention in government procurement processes to benefit Jehan, EOH, and Tactical Software Systems (TSS), which allegedly resulted in an R360 million tender being cancelled.
At the time, Zizi conceded that payments were indeed made into his account by Jehan when he was facing financial difficulties. He denied that the payments were in exchange for political gains for the African National Congress (ANC) or to influence any tenders.
Compiled by Matthew Petersen
Published first on African Insider
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