The Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) has found impeached Judge President John Hlophe made multiple "mistakes of law" when he summarily acquitted ANC MP Bongani Bongo of corruption – and has ordered a retrial.
In an unanimous ruling written by acting Judge John Smith, the SCA found that there were "reasonable prospects" that Bongo "would have been convicted of either the main or alternative charges mentioned in the indictment if the mistakes of law had not been made".
Smith added that, "at the very least", the evidence led by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) against Bongo "constituted prima facie evidence that [he] had committed the crime of corruption".