Former police crime intelligence head Richard Mdluli and his co-accused Mthembeni Mthunzi were at the High Court in Johannesburg recently found guilty on charges relating to the 1999 kidnapping and assault of Mdluli’s former lover’s husband, Oupa Ramogibe.
Mdluli enjoyed a succession of promotions after 2000 before becoming head of crime intelligence, until he was suspended.
According to NPA regional spokesperson Phindi Mjonondwane, Mdluli was found guilty of four counts of intimidation, two of kidnapping, two of assault common and two of assault with grievous bodily harm (GBH), while Mthunzi was sentenced on similar counts except the intimidation counts.
Ramogibe married Mdluli’s former lover, Tshidi Buthelezi, in 1998.
Following the killing of Ramogibe, Mdluli was jointly charged with Mthunzi for the crimes related to the unsolved 1999 killing of Ramogibe.
The charges were, however, withdrawn pending the outcome of a murder inquest held at the Boksburg Magistrates’ Court.
The inquest into Ramogibe’s murder found there was insufficient evidence to link Mdluli or his co-accused to Ramogibe’s death.
The murder charge and other cases against the duo relating to the killing were controversially withdrawn and others were never pursued.
These included charges of intimidation, assault GBH and kidnapping.
Things, however, took a new turn when a legal lobby group, Freedom Under Law (FUL), sought an order in the high court in Pretoria to rule against that withdrawal decision, and have all the charges against Mdluli reinstated.
The application brought by FUL included cases connected to Mdluli’s alleged abuse of the crime intelligence unit’s secret service account.
The high court ruled against the magistrate’s court’s withdrawal of some of the charges.
Mdluli then approached the Supreme Court of Appeal to overrule the high court’s decision.
However, in 2014, the Supreme Court of Appeal upheld the high court’s ruling and so certain charges against the duo were reinstated.
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