Former anti-crime boss Mdluli’s sentencing to start today

D-day is looming for former Police Crime Intelligence boss Richard Mdluli, with sentencing in his kidnapping and assault case expected to get under way today.

The matter was due to begin in the High Court in Johannesburg yesterday, but lawyers acting for Mdluli and his co-accused Mthembeni Mthunzi asked for a postponement so they could read the judgment handed down last year.

Mdluli and Mthunzi – also a former cop – were found to have abducted Oupa Ramogibe and Mdluli’s former lover Tshidi Buthelezi in 1999. The pair were taken to a police station and beaten.

Judge Ratha Mokgoatlheng in July last year found Mdluli guilty of four counts of intimidation, two of kidnapping, two of common assault and two of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

Mthunzi was found to have committed two counts of kidnapping, two of common assault and two of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm.

UPDATE: Probation officer recommends Mdluli’s co-accused ‘stay out of prison’ during sentencing

In October Constitutional Court Judge Leona Theron ruled that sections of the Intimidation Act limited freedom of expression and were unconstitutional.

Mokgoatlheng subsequently acquitted Mdluli of the intimidation charges.

The case has been in and out of court for the better part of a decade and speaking outside court, Ramogibe’s ageing mother, Sophia Ramogibe, said that she was looking forward to getting closure after all these years.

She said the protracted case had taken a toll on her and her family.

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