The suspension of South Gauteng Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), advocate Andrew Chauke, has impacted the high-profile fraud case of South African Football Association (Safa) president Danny Jordaan.
It was revealed on Friday that representations for withdrawal of charges that were sent on January 23 by accused persons, businessman Trevor Neethling and his company, Grit Communications, to Chauke, have not been finalised due to his suspension.
Chauke was suspended with immediate effect on July 21 by President Cyril Ramaphosa pending an inquiry into his fitness to hold office.
During proceedings on Friday at the Johannesburg Specialised Commercial Crime Court (JSCCC) sitting at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court, Safa chief financial officer Gronnie Hluyo (55), Neethling (46) and his company, and Jordaan (73) appeared for charges of three counts of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud.
The charges stem from allegations of R1.3-million fraud of Safa’s financial resources between 2014 and 2018. All accused are out on R20 000 bail.
Representations for withdrawal
Hluyo and Jordaan’s lawyer, Victor Nkhwashu, told magistrate Sheron Soko-Rantao that his clients made representations for withdrawal of their charges to the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) regional head responsible for the Joburg SCCC, advocate Gideon Nkoana.
Nkhwashu said his clients’ representations were dismissed by Nkoana on July 29.
He said Hluyo and Jordaan will make representations for withdrawal of their charges to the office of the South Gauteng DPP on Friday or next week Monday.
Neethling and Grit Communications’ lawyer, James Ndebele, said his clients have not received outcomes of their withdrawal of charges representations from the DPP’s office.
Ndebele said his clients sent their representations to Chauke on January 23, and Chauke acknowledged receiving the representations on January 24.
He said in January Chauke said he will provide an outcome on the representations by March 1, 2025.
Ndebele said seven months later, there has been no response from the office of the DPP.
He said even though Chauke was suspended in July, he had committed to respond by March, and he had not done so.
Ndebele said if, by the next court appearance, the office of the DPP will not have given his clients an outcome on their representations, he will bring a fresh Section 342A application on the same day to have the matter removed from the court roll due to unreasonable delay by the state.
Mzukisi to be appointed acting DPP
State prosecutor advocate Moagi Malebati said the outcomes of Neethling and Grit Communications’ representations were not made because Chauke was suspended.
Malebati said on Thursday the national director of public prosecutions (NDPP), advocate Shamila Batohi, held a meeting where Malebati was present, and Batohi said Mzukisi Sakata from the NPA in the Northern Cape will be appointed as the acting South Gauteng DPP from September 1, 2025.
Sakata was appointed DPP of the Northern Cape Division of the High Court, Kimberley, effective April 1, 2022, by Ramaphosa.
Malebati said Sakata will deal with Neethling and Grit Communications’ representations for withdrawal of charges.
Soko-Rantao said when Sakata assumes office as the new acting South Gauteng DPP, he should prioritise the representations of all four accused, namely Hluyo, Neethling, Jordaan and Grit Communications.
She postponed the matter to September 12 for outcomes on the representations of withdrawal of charges by all four accused.
Last December, all four accused brought a Section 342A application to have charges against them dropped and their case removed from the court roll. Their applications were dismissed by Soko-Rantao.
NPA regional spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane said the accused’s R1.3-million fraud allegations stem from a 12-month Service Level Agreement (SLA) allegedly entered by Safa, represented by Jordaan, and Grit Communications in December 2017, for the provision of Public Relations (PR) and communication services to Safa.
SLA not approved by Safa
Mjonondwane said the state alleges that Jordaan, in contravention of the Safa statutes, signed the SLA that was neither sanctioned nor approved by Safa, and that he and Neethling backdated the agreement to October 1, 2017.
“Jordaan is alleged to have employed Grit Communications for purposes of protecting his personal image following allegations of rape levelled against him in 2017.
“Furthermore, he allegedly acquired protection services worth over R40,000, purported to be for Safa, from Badger Security during the Safa 2018 elective congress, while these protection services were allegedly exclusively rendered to him.
“According to Safa statutes, Jordaan was precluded from doing so, as only the CFO and CEO of Safa were authorised to sign contractual agreements.
“The PR services were already rendered to Safa by its existing department that handled PR and communication.
“Despite full knowledge of the unauthorised and unlawful nature of the actions of both Jordaan and Neethling, it is alleged that Hluyo approved the payments to Grit Communications and Badger Security,” said Mjonondwane.
