Zimbabwe rendition saga ends with a suspended sentence 14 years on

Friday saw the end of the controversial Zimbabwe rendition sage, which had dragged on for nearly 14 years.

The matter was even heard before the Zondo Commission, and saw former top police officer Lieutenant-Colonel Lesley "Cowboy" Maluleke given an 18-year wholly suspended sentence.

Maluleke was earlier in the week convicted on four counts of kidnapping, one charge of defeating the ends of justice and five counts of contravening the Immigration Act by facilitating the departure of an illegal foreigner in contravention of the Act.

Judge Hennie de Vos, sitting in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, found that this was an exceptional case, which did not warrant direct imprisonment, but rather a suspended sentence. He found numerous mitigating factors to be present, which included that Maluleke was a good police officer who until this "unfortunate" incident, had served his country well.

Maluleke, who was in 2010 attached to the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) when the Zimbabwean nationals were forcefully taken back to that country, was the only one who at the end faced the brunt for the Zimbabwe rendition saga.

Charges were earlier dropped against  former Hawks head Anwa Dramat and erstwhile Gauteng Hawks head Shadrack Sibiya.

Judge De Vos, in finding that the mitigating factors outweigh the aggravating factors, commented that although Maluleke did not take the court into his confidence to say where the orders for the rendition came from, "acted under some instructions from his superiors and that they were aware of what was going on."

The judge further said that looking at the evidence, it appears that there was also some involvement on the part of home affairs at the time.

The marathon trial, which took years to get off the ground and had a long history The charges follow the rendition of several Zimbabweans in 2010 and 2011 to their place of birth.

They were wanted for the alleged murder of a top cop in Zimbabwe – a Chief Superintendent Chatikobo – who was killed in September 2010.

It was claimed that the victims in the kidnapping charges which Maluleke faced, fled to South Africa and sought refuge in Diepsloot.

The Zimbabwean police enlisted the help of the Hawks and the court heard that a delegation of officers from Zimbabwe met Maluleke at the Hawks' offices in Silverton, Pretoria, on November 4, 2010 for the suspects to be returned to that country – bypassing the normal extradition route.

There was an amnesty for undocumented Zimbabweans at the time, which allowed Zimbabweans to apply for legal documents while in South Africa, without being deported.

It is claimed that Maluleke illegally arranged with the Zimbabwean police to trace, arrest and deport the nationals implicated and who were illegally here.

It was found that Maluleke himself was part of the delegation which allegedly kidnapped some of the suspects and drove across the Beitbridge border post, where they were handed over to the Zimbabwean police.

The marathon trial, which started in 2018 but which was delayed on several occasions, saw 41 witnesses who gave evidence for the State.

Prosecutor Advocate George Baloyi on Friday called on the court to sentence Maluleke to direct imprisonment, as he said Maluleke had overstepped the boundaries by taking matters in his own hands by forcefully removing the Zimbabwe nationals from here and taking them back to their country.

He said it appeared that Maluleke was motivated by "enthusiasm" and thus did not follow the law or adhere to the Constitution.

Maluleke's advocate, Norman Makhubela, who successfully called for a wholly suspended sentence, argued that one cannot overlook the good work the former top officer did for this country, despite his "misguided enthusiasm."

Makhubela said Maluleke deserved a second chance, to which the judge agreed.

He said the facts in this case are unique, as the police were at that stage unsure whether they could arrest illegal Zimbabweans in this country, due to the amnesty.

They had to curb crime, yet thousands of illegal immigrants flooded across our borders, into South Africa and some were involved in crime.

Judge De Vos said this is not a matter of self interest, as there is no evidence that Maluleke received anything from his Zimbabwean counterparts to assist them in taking the nationals in this case back to their country.

He, however, had strong words for Maluleke for bringing the Hawks and South Africa into disrespect, by taking the law into his own hands. He said if we all wanted to survive here, we had to follow the rule of law.

"I need Solomonic wisdom today to give you a sentence," he told Maluleke.

The judge said he is not treating Maluleke with "gloves," but he pointed out that the incidents happened about 14 years ago and the rendition issue was investigated and re-investigated, while hanging over Maluleke's head.

Directly after sentencing, the judge spoke directly to Maluleke and told him "I hope to never see you here again. I hope you have learnt your lesson." He said Maluleke was a good officer and the younger people can learn a lot from him.