EDITORIAL: IDT hush money docket: 383 days, one video, no arrests

The former chief executive of a state entity that spends upwards of R4-billion a year, and her then spokesperson, put R60,000 in a Dior shopping bag on a table in front of a Daily Maverick journalist. We filmed it, published it and laid charges. More than a year later, the docket still isn’t trial-ready.

On a wine farm outside Stellenbosch, Independent Development Trust (IDT) CEO Tebogo Malaka and her sidekick, Phasha Makgolane, slid R60,000 in hush money in front of Pieter-Louis Myburgh, one of our investigative journalists.

After weeks of planning, documenting and setting up the sting, Pieter-Louis casually whipped out his phone to photograph the loot, then pushed the Dior bag back across the table before walking off. It is hard to think of a more watertight case of bribery documented in high-definition quality.

We published the footage 383 days ago. We count the days, because nobody else does.

Since then: no arrest, no court date, no publicly known tax consequence.

Commercial crime prosecution is slow by design, and for good reason: the paper trail runs through banks and shelf companies and a state entity’s procurement files, every step contestable, every affidavit a future cross-examination. Prosecutors who enrol early lose in court, and a lost case is worse than a slow one because it hands the accused an acquittal to wave about for the rest of their life.

Earlier this year, we ran a series on how fraud is exploding in South Africa , estimated to be around 5% of GDP and exceeding the FBI’s total reported internet crime losses for the whole of the US. And prosecutions remain criminally low in relation to reported cases.

The Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit is under-resourced and oversubscribed. The investigating officer carries an unenviable caseload. The few remaining heroes actually doing their jobs to fight and prosecute crime have watched what happens to anyone who strikes a match inside the belly of this gluttonous beast.

Section 3 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act 12 of 2004 makes it a crime to offer any gratification to induce another person to act improperly, in breach of trust or in violation of a legal duty. Section 21 makes the attempt an offence in its own right. Section 26 lets a high court impose life imprisonment, plus a fine of up to five times the gratification involved. On R60,000, that is R300,000 and the rest of your natural life.

Malaka is also on the record, during our investigation into her property dealings, responding to questioning about how she came to pay for mulitmillion-rand properties in cash.

“I want it closed. I don’t want you to be writing about it... but I also don’t know how to make a proposal.” Asked whether IDT tenders could still be steered our way while she was suspended, she said: “It can be.”

“I never bribed anyone. I never took out money and gave it to anyone, so I am not going to comment further on the allegations because it is a legal matter and I am willing to go to court to prove my innocence,” she told eNCA in August last year . We should oblige her.

Daily Maverick laid criminal charges two days after publishing the story.