Legal eagles under a cloud in North West courts

Regina Letshoo, 48, made a brief appearance on a count of defeating the ends of justice in Ga-Rankuwa Regional Court on Wednesday. To ensure impartiality, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) assigned an outside magistrate to preside over the case as Letshoo was a state prosecutor in the cluster where the matter will be tried.

The case stems from Letshoo’s allegedly inappropriate behaviour on 27 August 2020. Henry Mamothame, spokesperson for the North West NPA, says Letshoo was not expected to report for duty on that day, according to the rotational schedule.

Letshoo is accused of concealing facts about a suspect who appeared before her, which led to the case being struck off the roll and the suspect being wrongfully discharged. Letshoo resigned shortly afterwards.

Mamothame explains: “Letshoo allegedly took a docket in a case involving a foreign individual… accused of possessing stolen stuff after being caught driving an unregistered car … the foreign national failed to present proper identification.

“The former prosecutor reportedly withheld information from the docket. In the end, the suspect was released and the case was dismissed due to [Letshoo’s] alleged wrongdoing.”

Mamothame says that when the docket was traced through a daily audit of cases, the omissions were indicated with her signature, approving the suspect’s release.

A duplicate docket kept by the chief prosecutor was used to re-enrol the case. Police are still looking for the suspect.

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North West director of public prosecutions, Dr Rachel Makhari Sekhaolelo, has welcomed the appointment of an independent presiding officer in the case against Letshoo.

“We welcome the move to appoint an outside presiding officer… to conduct a fair trial which will not be misconstrued by any suspicions of bias.”

Letshoo is due back in court on 24 January 2023.

Letshoo is the second representative of the North West NPA to face legal issues. 

In the Molopo Magistrates’ Court in Mmabatho earlier this month, Jeanette Neveling, former director of the Specialised Commercial Crime Unit in the province, is facing shoplifting charges.

Neveling allegedly shoplifted clothing and food items valued at about R3,000 from a shop at the Crossing Shopping Centre in Mmabatho in 2021.

At her previous appearance, she filed an application to have the shoplifting charges dismissed. At the time of her arrest in February 2021, Neveling was leading the prosecution in a corruption case involving former North West finance MEC, Wendy Nelson.

In November 2021, Nelson and the former head of the health department, Andrew Lekalakala, were acquitted in the North West High Court on fraud charges. DM