South African prosecutors’ application to travel to Switzerland to investigate a secret bank account containing millions in suspected arms deal bribes was denied by the Department of Justice.

DURBAN - This is disclosed in a nine-page letter from Asset Forfeiture Unit boss Willie Hofmeyr to Minister of Justice Jeff Radebe requesting approval for an official trip by two senior prosecutors to Switzerland where “16  large boxes” of corruption evidence were being held by Swiss authorities.

Dated July 2009, the request says: “The Swiss authorities had through a spontaneous disclosure dated  November 8, 2007 provided the Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) with information concerning monies held in three Swiss bank accounts by one Fana Hlongwane.

The Super Saturday Citizen was unable to locate any means to contact Hlongwane.

Last year  Anwar Dramat, the head of the Directorate of Priority Crimes Investigations, also known as the Hawks, cancelled all investigations into the arms deal  and claimed it would be difficult to continue the probe as foreign countries were not willing to assist in the probe.

The letter states the NPA formally requested the Swiss to provide copies of the information so that it could be used in court. Swiss authorities allegedly secured all the documents and requested the investigation team peruse the material in Switzerland.

The letter suggests that two senior NPA officials, accompanied by a senior policeman investigating the case, be sent to Switzerland to examine the evidence and advise Swiss police on what was legally required for a prosecution.

The request claims the total cost of sending two prosecutors to Switzerland and putting them up in a hotel for several days would come to a little over R98 000 – but that seizing the suspect bribe money would rake in many millions.

Before being sent to Radebe for approval, the letter first went through the then Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe who did not authorise the request, stating: “This authorisation is subject to SA Police Service (SAPS)  authorising  Du Plooy to take the matter forward. NPA is to respond to request by SAPS and not the other way around”.

After this, it went to the former director-general of the Department of Justice, Menzi Simelane who wrote he did not approve the trip. Simelane, then director-general of the Department of Justice, wrote: “This request is unfortunate.

The investigations by the DSO (the now disbanded Scorpions)/NPA have been forwarded to the DPCI. Therefore all investigations ought to be dealt with by the police”.

Simelane is on special leave after the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled  there “were too many questions regarding his integrity and experience” for him to have been made head of the NPA.

After his recommendation the application was finally sent to Minister of Justice Jeff Radebe, who wrote: “NPA has no jurisdiction over this matter, it is (for) the SAPS and their Minister Mthethwa to deal with”.

Chairman of the Institute for Accountability in SA, Advocate Paul Hoffman SC said  overall, it reflected the government’s desire to stop an independent probe of the arms deals.

Phumla Sekhonyane, a spokesman for Minister of Justice Jeff Radebe referred queries to the commission’s spokesman William Baloyi.  Baloyi said: “We will not just be looking at what happened internally.

We will follow up on any information no matter where it takes us.

If the information points to overseas, we will probe that. We will not leave any stone unturned.”