THE National Prosecuting Authority relies on plea bargains with criminals because sometimes it is the only way to secure convictions.
National Director of Public Prosecutions Menzi Simelane, pictured, last week released a report to Parliament revealing that 343 plea and sentence agreements were struck countrywide between the state and accused this year.
The report was criticised, with some questioning why so many criminals, including sex offenders, were being let off with light or suspended sentences.
In an interview with Sowetan on Friday, Simelane said he had released the report hoping that the public would see the value of plea agreements and use them to their own advantage.
"Having accused turn into state witnesses has proved to be very effective. Sometimes it is the only way to get through syndicates or where people are organised in such a way that they are very closely controlled. For cases like cash-in-transit robberies, sometimes it gets difficult to find evidence.
"We go to one of them who is most likely to squeal, mostly the person who has played the smallest role, the one that we can afford to excuse, except in exceptional cases," he said.
The Jackie Selebi corruption trial was a case in point. His former friend Glenn Agliotti testified against him.
"In the Selebi case, Agliotti was used to give us information. If he testified truthfully, he was not to be prosecuted on corruption separately. But they found that he lied and the court refused to give him indemnity. The decision on whether to prosecute him has not been made yet," he said.
Simelane said the report was released because it was important for the public to know what the NPA had achieved and still trying to achieve.
"I am not sure if information around plea sentence agreements was ever shared with the public, but this time around we have released it so that the public knows what is happening."
He said plea agreements saved time, instead of going to court and "running a trial, agree to plead guilty and agree to take a lesser sentence".
Although the number of criminals who pleaded guilty has improved from 214 last year to 343 this year, Simelane said it had not helped much with the backlog.
"We are finalising cases, but there are more coming in," he said.
Asked if the rich tended to get better deals, he said: "They don't get off easily but they tend to hire good lawyers. They know the system and issues that are taken into account so they are always able to negotiate a better deal."
On the 107 cases against state officials?
"These cases vary from tender interfering to taking bribes, cases involving prosecutors, missing dockets or evidence. So yes, we do have corruption in the inside but are dealing with it," he said.
Small crooks can 'help nail bigger fish'
THE National Prosecuting Authority relies on plea bargains with criminals because sometimes it is the only way to secure convictions.
National Director of Public Prosecutions Menzi Simelane, pictured, last week released a report to Parliament revealing that 343 plea and sentence agreements were struck countrywide between the state and accused this year.
The report was criticised, with some questioning why so many criminals, including sex offenders, were being let off with light or suspended sentences.
In an interview with Sowetan on Friday, Simelane said he had released the report hoping that the public would see the value of plea agreements and use them to their own advantage.
"Having accused turn into state witnesses has proved to be very effective. Sometimes it is the only way to get through syndicates or where people are organised in such a way that they are very closely controlled. For cases like cash-in-transit robberies, sometimes it gets difficult to find evidence.
"We go to one of them who is most likely to squeal, mostly the person who has played the smallest role, the one that we can afford to excuse, except in exceptional cases," he said.
The Jackie Selebi corruption trial was a case in point. His former friend Glenn Agliotti testified against him.
"In the Selebi case, Agliotti was used to give us information. If he testified truthfully, he was not to be prosecuted on corruption separately. But they found that he lied and the court refused to give him indemnity. The decision on whether to prosecute him has not been made yet," he said.
Simelane said the report was released because it was important for the public to know what the NPA had achieved and still trying to achieve.
"I am not sure if information around plea sentence agreements was ever shared with the public, but this time around we have released it so that the public knows what is happening."
He said plea agreements saved time, instead of going to court and "running a trial, agree to plead guilty and agree to take a lesser sentence".
Although the number of criminals who pleaded guilty has improved from 214 last year to 343 this year, Simelane said it had not helped much with the backlog.
"We are finalising cases, but there are more coming in," he said.
Asked if the rich tended to get better deals, he said: "They don't get off easily but they tend to hire good lawyers. They know the system and issues that are taken into account so they are always able to negotiate a better deal."
On the 107 cases against state officials?
"These cases vary from tender interfering to taking bribes, cases involving prosecutors, missing dockets or evidence. So yes, we do have corruption in the inside but are dealing with it," he said.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos