Kodwa corruption trial: State rejects Mackay bid to have charges against him dropped

JOHANNESBURG - The State has rejected an application by Jehan Mackay to have the charges against him dropped in the corruption case involving former minister, Zizi Kodwa.

Mackay, the former boss of Enterprise Outsourcing Holdings (EOH), is accused of paying Kodwa up to R1.7 million in kickbacks in exchange for government tenders.

The pair, who are out on R30,000 bail, made a brief appearance at the Palm Ridge Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Wednesday.

They each face two charges of corruption and violating the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act.

State prosecutor Neville Mogagabe said that on 13 August, Mackay’s lawyers filed an application to have all his charges withdrawn.

Mogagabe said this application was rejected by the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) in Johannesburg.

Mackay’s legal representative, Advocate Ian Small-Smith, explained the reasons behind the application: "We received all the evidence from the State, and we went through it, and we believe there is insufficient evidence to proceed to trial, so we drafted written representations for the director of public prosecutions [DPP] for him to consider."

Small-Smith said they would be escalating their application to the DPP in Johannesburg.

The matter has been postponed to 10 September for the DPP’s decision.