The court in July intervened to determine whether the state is indeed trial ready, as the four female prosecutor panel suggests.

Defence teams for all 18 accused arrested in the matter so far, all want the case to be struck from the court roll until the state is ready to indict the 18 suspects on charges of corruption, money laundering, and fraud relating to alleged contracts for kickbacks during construction of the Kusile Power Plant.

The matter was set down for September 29 for a ruling for the matter to be struck from the roll, but the court declined to continue, postponing the matter to today, in order to recall the investigative officer on six issues the court found could influence its ruling.

The investigative officer today informed the court of his reluctance to testify in English, by requesting an Afrikaans interpreter.
An interpreter had been arranged but got stuck in another district court that refused to release the interpreter.

Efforts to immediately find a stand-in interpreter were unsuccessful, resulting in the matter being postponed until Thursday this week.

When defence teams learnt that the state was aware the investigating officer would be recalled to clarify certain issues pertaining to his previous testimony, the mallets came out.

All accused the state of merely informing them that the judgement was rescheduled for today, with no mention of the court’s intention to question the investigating officer, thereby opening the floor to cross-examination by defence advocates.

After the first adjournment for consultation with their clients, the defence teams all indicated that they were ready to proceed, as their arguments to have the matter struck from the roll exclusively hinge on the state’s continued petitions for postponements ahead of the matter being transferred to the High Court with a formal trial date.

The matter of the unavailability of an Afrikaans interpreter then came up, resulting in a second, third and ultimately fourth postponement of the day’s lacklustre proceedings.

Mr Koko smiled broadly in court several times, engaging with both journalists and the public gallery during postponements.

Also read:

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2 Billion Eskom fraud: Koko + co-accused back in court in September

R2 billion fraud sting – Former Eskom bigwig appears in court alongside wife, daughter