Richard Mdluli to approach Legal Aid after attorney withdraws

Former crime intelligence head Richard Mdluli is expected to approach Legal Aid SA on Tuesday to ascertain if he qualifies for legal assistance.

This is after his attorney withdrew on record, citing a lack of funds.

On Monday, the Pretoria high court dismissed Mdluli’s application for a postponement of the trial as he awaits his applications to review the SA Police Service’s (SAPS) refusal to carry his legal costs.

The National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) argued against the postponement.

Idac spokesperson Henry Mamothame said when dismissing Mdluli’s application, judge M Makamu agreed with the directorate and highlighted that the matter had been on the court roll for a long time and prejudiced the other two accused who placed it on record that they were ready to proceed with they trial. 

“He further indicated Mdluli’s leave to appeal has a lot of uncertainties which may require him to approach the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court should the ruling be not in his favour,” he said.

Mamothame said his appeal against the SAPS decision was also dismissed by the court.

Mdluli, together with former SAPS supply chain manager Heine Barnard and CFO Solomon Lazarus, face charges of corruption, fraud and theft relating to the police service’s secret slush fund from the time they were employed by SAPS in the crime intelligence service, between 2008 and 2012.

SAPS denied Mdluli funding in January 2022 and the case was postponed in September that year to October the same year to allow Mdluli to provide the court with an update on the progress of a review application against his former employer. 

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