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The Springs District Court in Gauteng has again postponed the start of an environmental case against the former directors of Aurora Empowerment Systems directors.
Three of the four accused - Khulubuse Zuma, Zondwa Mandela and Thulani Ngubane were in court on Tuesday. They, together with their co-accused Raja Zainal Alam Shah, face charges including water pollution, failure to comply with a compliance notice and unlawful use of water at the Grootvlei gold mine near Springs.
The case against the three politically connected former directors has been postponed until 22 November to allow their lawyers to study what they say is a new docket sent by the National Prosecuting Authority.
Zuma, the nephew of ex-president Jacob Zuma, was Aurora's former chair. Mandela, late president Nelson Mandela’s grandson, was the mining group's ex-managing director. Shah, meanwhile, has not appeared at any of the previous court dates.
On Tuesday the court heard that Mandela had gained new legal representation, Hume Scholes, who needed to familiarise himself with the case. Scholes told the court his client had received “a completely different docket” from the NPA.
But NPA spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane, speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, denied a different docket was presented to the accused. "What we can confirm is that it's the same contents, all that the advocate did to arrange the information inside the docket in such a way that it makes it easier for the defence to read," she said.
Speaking to the media for the first time since the case began, meanwhile, the lawyer for Zuma and Ngubane, Pranav Jaggan, said the NPA's claim "was a blatant lie". Jaggan said they had previously been given a certain file and had since received a different one. He added that he only received the updated docket on Thursday, despite the NPA allegedly agreeing to hand it over on October 18.
Delays
While the case against the former Aurora directors started in May, it has been beset by repeated delays.
Magistrate Nkhensani Moila on Tuesday warned this would be the final postponement, given that accused are required to plead within three months of the start of a trial in criminal matters. She also scolded Mandela and Nguabne for being late to court on Tuesday morning, saying she would not tolerate this again. Jaggan said Ngubane had previously been on time for all other court hearings and he was late on Tuesday because "sometimes life happens".
Head of legal at the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse, Advocate Stefanie Fick, meanwhile, noted the case had been dragging on since 2010, and said the group hoped to receive a trial date on November 22. Outa has been pushing the NPA for several years to charge the trio for environmental damages.
- Additional reporting by Jan Cronje
