Former magistrate to testify in own corruption trial

Former regional magistrate Ronnie Rambau is expected to tell all when he will take the stand in his corruption trial in the Messina Magistrate’s Court.

Rambau, who stands accused of accepting a bribe to influence a court case, will call his witnesses to the stand this coming Tuesday, 14 November. During an earlier court appearance in August this year, Rambau had indicated that he still wanted to call two more witnesses to testify on his behalf. One of his witnesses, however, could not be called because of bad health. This witness has since passed away.

Despite this, Rambau gave a resolution to the court during a follow-up appearance in October that all his other witnesses will be ready to testify on the date set down for November.

Rambau, together with his co-accused, ex-prosecutor prosecutor Estene Willemse and attorney Tivoneleni Edmond Lubisi, faces charges of corruption and conspiracy to commit corruption. They were arrested during a police trap in February 2010.

The trap was set within the Musina area, with the aim of catching corrupt officials who sabotaged the course of justice by pre-determining the sentence of vehicle theft cases by means of a plea agreement. The three accused allegedly also received bribe money in murder and rape cases.

Date:10 November 2017

By: Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

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