About two weeks ago, North West businessman and former ANC regional treasurer Suliman Carrim was at OR Tambo International Airport preparing to leave South Africa. Today, he faces criminal charges in two provinces.
A crucial development in one of the cases by the end of this week could significantly undermine his legal position.
Carrim appeared in the Pretoria Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 28 October, seeking bail after failing to continue testifying before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry.
Carrim testified before the commission earlier this year, but failed to return after that, despite being scheduled to continue testifying. His legal team submitted medical documentation from a doctor declaring him unfit to testify.
He refused to undergo an independent medical assessment and, while apparently too unwell to testify at the commission, was spotted at a restaurant in Cape Town. This culminated in his arrest on the evening of 15 October at OR Tambo International Airport as he was about to leave South Africa.
Bail, but no release
On Wednesday, Carrim was granted bail of R100,000, with strict conditions, which included:
His legal representative must contact the Madlanga Commission within 48 hours and make arrangements for his next appearance there.
His passport must remain with the investigating officer until the conclusion of both his trial and his testimony at the Madlanga Commission.
He may not leave South Africa without written permission from the court.
Despite being able to pay the R100,000 bail, Carrim was not released from custody on Wednesday. He remains detained in a separate case, charged alongside two co-accused with attempting to smuggle two cars out of South Africa.
He was arrested in that matter last week, six days after he was detained for failing to testify at the Madlanga Commission.
The National Prosecuting Authority said, “It is alleged that Carrim, acting in collusion with his employees, attempted to steal two vehicles belonging to Absa by taking them out of the country using fraudulent documentation.”
The car case is being heard in the Musina Magistrates’ Court, and is set to resume there on Friday, 30 October.
Properties and pending guilty pleas
During Wednesday’s bail proceedings, the prosecution tried unsuccessfully to reopen the bail application, on the grounds that Carrim had not disclosed properties that his wife owned, and that he faced charges in Musina.
Carrim’s attorney, Ulrich Roux, told the court that the Musina case was separate from the Pretoria one. He explained that the two other suspects in that case were arrested in July and had remained in custody since then.
They appeared in the Musina Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, and the SABC named them as Musa Phiri and Zakes Ibrahim.
Roux said it was envisioned that in Musina on Friday “a guilty plea [would] be submitted on behalf of the two accused who are already before court”, adding that they had been in “extensive plea negotiations” with the State.
“If the two accused in that matter plead guilty,” he said, “it will have a severe impact on the strength of the State’s case in that matter against [Carrim].”
In other words, Carrim’s legal issues will become more complicated if his co-accused plead guilty.
Maumela, Matlala and Msibi
The Pretoria case – where Carrim was granted bail over his failure to return to the Madlanga Commission – is set to resume on 8 December.
Carrim’s incomplete testimony at the commission, along with what other witnesses have said, points to what evidence leaders probably want to question him about.
When Carrim appeared before the commission earlier this year, his connections to several high-profile figures came to light – including ANC fixer and fellow North West businessman Brown Mogotsi, who currently faces charges for allegedly faking his own attempted murder.
Crux of the commission
The Madlanga Commission was created to investigate allegations that were first made public last year when KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi held a press conference and alleged a cartel had infiltrated South Africa’s criminal justice system, politics and private security. Senior police officers alleged the cartel – known as the Big Five –was involved in crimes ranging from tender fraud to cash-in-transit heists and drug trafficking.
The commission also heard that financial transactions connected Carrim to Morgan Maumela, whose name has surfaced in a Special Investigating Unit (SIU) probe into the looting of more than R2-billion from the Tembisa Hospital.
Carrim had admitted to having dealings with Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, who faces criminal charges including attempted murder. Matlala is also accused of colluding with corrupt police officers and of being a member of the Big Five cartel.
Matlala testified at the Madlanga Commission that he became close to Carrim because they both visited the late taxi boss Jothan Msibi – alleged by some police officers to have headed the Big Five.
SIU scrutiny
Carrim faces other issues in addition to the two court cases.
Last month, President Cyril Ramaphosa signed a proclamation authorising the SIU to investigate corruption and irregular expenditure allegations at the state-owned North West Transport Investments (NTI).
According to a government statement, the SIU had also been “authorised to investigate significant maladministration in the NTl's operations regarding the receipt, processing, approval, and payment of claims submitted by” various companies, including Ziggy Investments CC.
Ziggy Investments is linked to Carrim.
The government statement added: “The SIU will examine whether these operations breached applicable legislation and guidelines issued by the National Treasury or the relevant Provincial Treasury.” DM
Source: Daily Maverick · Caryn Dolley
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