In February 2021, then Western Cape Judge President John Hlophe acquitted Bongani Bongo of corruption – without requiring him to answer to evidence that the former ANC MP had tried to bribe him to halt or collapse Parliament's Eskom inquiry.
In an unanimous ruling written by acting Judge John Smith, the SCA found that there were"reasonable prospects" that Bongo"would have been convicted of either the main or alternative charges mentioned in the indictment if the mistakes of law had not been made". The then-Judge President, who was later impeached over allegations that he tried to sway two Constitutional Court justices to rule in favour of then-ANC president Jacob Zuma in 2008, found that Vanara was not a credible witness and that there was"insufficient evidence" to require Bongo to present a defence.
In other words, Hlophe found that – because Vanara did not reveal what exactly he was offered to delay or collapse the Eskom inquiry and did not provide any detail on how this bribe would be paid – Bongo's alleged"discussion" with him was not unlawful. According to Vanara, Bongo had first called him, three times, on 4 October 2017 – the same day that he had scheduled a meeting with the acting chairperson of Eskom, Zethembe Khoza, for the following day in Sandton.
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