The corruption case against former police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane, his wife Beauty and co-accused Durand Snyman has been withdrawn after the state’s application for a further postponement was dismissed.
Magistrate Nicola Setshoege on Thursday dismissed the state’s application for a postponement which led to the state withdrawing the matter against the three accused.
“The application for postponement would be prejudicial for the accused,” said Setshoege.
She added that the state had not persuaded her on why they would be prejudiced if the court removed the matter from the roll. Earlier in the Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria, the state had asked for a three month postponement, saying investigations against the accused had evolved and it wanted to charge more suspects. The defence opposed this postponement arguing that the matter should be struck from the roll as the accused have the right to a speedy trial.
It was alleged that Snyman gave the Phahlanes vehicles, which were paid for by a police contractor who received billions in forensic contracts.
READ MORE: Phahlane, wife and car dealer appear in court on corruption charges
They made their first appearances in February, and were each released on R10 000 bail.
The allegations of corruption against the former acting national police commissioner surfaced more than a year ago, as questions arose about how he could afford a multimillion-rand home.
The allegations escalated recently, as IPID included police supplier Keith Keating and his company, Forensic Data Analysts (FDA), in its investigation.
READ MORE: Boeremag link to state IT company and dodgy police supplier
In December, a joint operation between the Hawks and IPID saw seven properties connected to Keating and Phahlane raided.
News 24 reported last year that Keating’s company, FDA, had allegedly received R5-billion in SAPS contracts since 2010.
Phahlane, Snyman and Keating previously denied the allegations against them. — News 24