Kwaggafontein in Mpumalanga province may seem very far from Gqeberha, but what seemingly happened there on Monday has far-reaching implications for all South Africans, including us in this coastal city.
Mkhuseli Ntaba, a public prosecutor, was on his way to court when he apparently received threats to his life.
After reporting the threats to the police and his employer, the National Prosecuting Authority, he decided against proceeding to court.
His no-show caused an unhappy magistrate, Tuletu Tonjeni, to declare the prosecutor in contempt of court and to issue a warrant for his arrest.
She also decided to strike the matter Ntaba was supposed to appear on off the roll.
Embarrassed, the NPA acted swiftly — announcing Ntaba’s suspension pending investigations.
But as the hours went by, a disturbing picture is beginning to emerge of the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of a prosecutor.
A few days earlier, Ntaba had appeared before Tonjeni for a bail hearing in the state’s case against Mpumalanga taxi industry strongman Joe “Ferrari” Sibanyoni and his associates, Bafana Sindane, Mvimbi Masilela and Philemon Msiza.
The four are accused in a matter involving the extortion of about R2.2m from a mining businessman in Kwaggafontein.
Ntaba had indicated to the court that the state planned to oppose bail but told the magistrate that he would not be available for the bail hearing on Monday and would prefer the matter was postponed to Tuesday.
The magistrate declined, citing a prior engagement, and insisted that Ntaba availed himself on Monday.
It now appears that Ntaba did actually plan to show up in court and that the only reason he didn’t was because he had received threats to his life and was concerned about his safety.
It should concern all of us that criminality in SA has become so endemic that even the prosecutors are no longer safe.
If this kind of intimidation happens in a town like Kwaggafontein, we can only imagine how severe the problem is in many small towns across the country.
Given that such threats are a reality, presiding officers have a duty to investigate all the facts surrounding a prosecutor’s absence before finding them guilty of contempt.
More support should be given to those at the coalface of the battle against crime and criminals.
Rushing to condemn them without first investigating the facts plays into the very hands of the criminals.
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