McCarthy distances himself from Zuma saga
8 April 2009, 08:34
By Fiona Forde, Angela Quintal and Karyn Maughan
Former Scorpions chief Leonard McCarthy has distanced himself from the Jacob Zuma saga - arguing it was not he but Scorpions director Thanda Mngwengwe and NPA boss Mokotedi Mpshe who decided to prosecute the ANC president in 2007.
"As you know, in the final analysis, the decisions about whether to charge, on what counts and when, were taken by you and advocate Mngwengwe," McCarthy wrote to Mpshe in a letter dated April 2, but which only came into the possession of The Star on Tuesday.
The letter was in response to questions put to him by the National Prosecuting Authority regarding his alleged collusion in Zuma's prosecution.
When he announced the NPA's decision on Monday to drop the charges against Zuma, Mpshe accused McCarthy and founding NPA head Bulelani Ngcuka of "manipulating the prosecutorial process before and after the (ANC's) Polokwane elections", based on a number of recorded phone conversations made available to the prosecutors by Zuma's legal team in recent months.
According to Mpshe, the pair were guilty of trying to thwart Zuma's chance of receiving a fair trial.
"It does not matter that the prosecuting team acted properly, honestly, fairly and justly throughout. Mr McCarthy's conduct amounts to a serious abuse of process and offends one's sense of justice."
However, McCarthy now claims it was Mngwengwe and Mpshe himself who took the decision - something Mngwengwe confirmed in a recent interview with the Sunday Times.
"I stand by my decision (to prosecute Zuma) until and unless the NDPP (Mpshe) decides otherwise," Mngwengwe stated. "My decision is out there in the open. If there was anything wrong with my decision, based on the facts, people would say that."
The prosecuting and investigating team reported directly to Mngwengwe, who, in turn, reported to McCarthy in the now defunct unit. It is therefore not clear how the latter could now distance himself from the saga as then overall head of the Scorpions, and with whom the buck stopped.
In a separate move, Ngcuka has also denied colluding in the saga.
"I have stated - and wish to reiterate - that I've never been party to any conspiracy to frustrate the political ambition of Mr Zuma" to become president of South Africa, Ngcuka said, pointing out that as a former national director of public prosecutions, "I had the opportunity to prosecute Mr Zuma. I did not."
According to Ngcuka, he was approached by the NPA last week to become a "possible witness" in Zuma's intended stay of prosecution. He said the NPA wanted to question him about phone conversations he was alleged to have had with McCarthy, and asked that he respond to their questioning under oath.
"For the record, I have never been given access to any of these transcripts," claimed Ngcuka, arguing that they "should have been put to me for a response".
Ngcuka said he refused to give a sworn statement as he had not been given access to either the tapes or the transcripts, but instead was asked to answer questions "distilled from notes", which on their own "had the potential to distort context".
He said his reluctance was also based on the fact that he did not know "whether the recordings were authentic and legally obtained and how they had come to be in the possession of Mr Zuma's lawyers".
Meanwhile, sacked NDPP Vusi Pikoli said through his lawyer that he believed Mpshe should probably have referred the Zuma case for further investigation and a decision by a court, rather than dropping the charges himself.
"If the sole basis for withdrawing the charges was the alleged conversations between Mr Ngcuka and Mr McCarthy, then that matter should be referred for further investigation and a court should decide whether or not the charges should be dropped," Aslam Moosajee said on behalf of Pikoli.
Former Scorpions chief Leonard McCarthy has distanced himself from the Jacob Zuma saga - arguing it was not he but Scorpions director Thanda Mngwengwe and NPA boss Mokotedi Mpshe who decided to prosecute the ANC president in 2007.
"As you know, in the final analysis, the decisions about whether to charge, on what counts and when, were taken by you and advocate Mngwengwe," McCarthy wrote to Mpshe in a letter dated April 2, but which only came into the possession of The Star on Tuesday.
The letter was in response to questions put to him by the National Prosecuting Authority regarding his alleged collusion in Zuma's prosecution.
When he announced the NPA's decision on Monday to drop the charges against Zuma, Mpshe accused McCarthy and founding NPA head Bulelani Ngcuka of "manipulating the prosecutorial process before and after the (ANC's) Polokwane elections", based on a number of recorded phone conversations made available to the prosecutors by Zuma's legal team in recent months.
According to Mpshe, the pair were guilty of trying to thwart Zuma's chance of receiving a fair trial.
"It does not matter that the prosecuting team acted properly, honestly, fairly and justly throughout. Mr McCarthy's conduct amounts to a serious abuse of process and offends one's sense of justice."
However, McCarthy now claims it was Mngwengwe and Mpshe himself who took the decision - something Mngwengwe confirmed in a recent interview with the Sunday Times.
"I stand by my decision (to prosecute Zuma) until and unless the NDPP (Mpshe) decides otherwise," Mngwengwe stated. "My decision is out there in the open. If there was anything wrong with my decision, based on the facts, people would say that."
The prosecuting and investigating team reported directly to Mngwengwe, who, in turn, reported to McCarthy in the now defunct unit. It is therefore not clear how the latter could now distance himself from the saga as then overall head of the Scorpions, and with whom the buck stopped.
In a separate move, Ngcuka has also denied colluding in the saga.
"I have stated - and wish to reiterate - that I've never been party to any conspiracy to frustrate the political ambition of Mr Zuma" to become president of South Africa, Ngcuka said, pointing out that as a former national director of public prosecutions, "I had the opportunity to prosecute Mr Zuma. I did not."
According to Ngcuka, he was approached by the NPA last week to become a "possible witness" in Zuma's intended stay of prosecution. He said the NPA wanted to question him about phone conversations he was alleged to have had with McCarthy, and asked that he respond to their questioning under oath.
"For the record, I have never been given access to any of these transcripts," claimed Ngcuka, arguing that they "should have been put to me for a response".
Ngcuka said he refused to give a sworn statement as he had not been given access to either the tapes or the transcripts, but instead was asked to answer questions "distilled from notes", which on their own "had the potential to distort context".
He said his reluctance was also based on the fact that he did not know "whether the recordings were authentic and legally obtained and how they had come to be in the possession of Mr Zuma's lawyers".
Meanwhile, sacked NDPP Vusi Pikoli said through his lawyer that he believed Mpshe should probably have referred the Zuma case for further investigation and a decision by a court, rather than dropping the charges himself.
"If the sole basis for withdrawing the charges was the alleged conversations between Mr Ngcuka and Mr McCarthy, then that matter should be referred for further investigation and a court should decide whether or not the charges should be dropped," Aslam Moosajee said on behalf of Pikoli.
- This article was originally published on page 1 of The Star on April 08, 2009
Pretoria
