“The court heard, through Frikkie Lutzkie, a witness whose affidavit was read into the court record, that Moti had allegedly been involved in a double murder, assassinations and bribing of civil servants, and that he operated in a network similar to a mafioso gang. However, Moti hit out, saying Lutzkie and Van Niekerk trivialised the Moti Group’s claim in the criminal charges that an employee’s theft of its corporate information, including personal information of his children's birth certificates, were shared with Lutzkie.
“What happened in this ex-parte court application (where the respondents were not present) is a complete miscarriage of justice. The acting judge (Warren) Shapiro in the KwaZulu-Natal, Durban division of the high court said in court that he had acted for Lutzkie before in a commercial matter and even asked if there were objections to this, though only one side was present,” said Moti.
He further said the respondents in the matter, which included various officers from the SAPS as well as himself (against whom the allegations are levelled), were never served with papers in the matter.
“The order to set aside Van Niekerk’s warrant of arrest was made without the application of the audi alteram partem rule, which is a right to all parties in court proceedings, which means “let the other side be heard as well”. It is the principle that no person should be judged without a fair hearing in which each party is given the opportunity to respond to the evidence against them.
“From the transcript, it is clear that judge Shapiro had had some interaction with advocate Rowan before the matter being heard in court,” he said.
Moti made these claims despite him not being a respondent in the matter, only the police minister and the station commanders of Verulam and Sandton police stations were listed as respondents. Neither were present in court, thus leading to the application being heard unopposed.
Moti was not a respondent in the application. Only the police were. So he would not have been informed of it. The police did not attend court on Friday and it remained unopposed. Moti also alleged that the bail granted to Van Niekerk was akin to a “backdoor bail application”.
Van Niekerk was detained overnight at Verulam police station last Wednesday, pending his transfer to Sandton.
The next day his lawyers made an urgent application before the Durban high court's acting judge Shapiro, obtaining an order interdicting police from taking him to Johannesburg and giving police until Friday to oppose the finalisation of the interdict.
But — in spite of the judge personally telephoning the police station to advise them of the order and it being served electronically and then personally — it was apparently ignored and Van Niekerk was driven to Johannesburg by the investigating officer.
At the hastily convened interdict hearing, former cage fighter and coal tycoon Frederick Lutzkie testified that Moti was an “extremely dangerous man” and that he had, without cause, had Van Niekerk arrested.
A source told TimesLIVE he had information on a deal Moti concluded in Zimbabwe. He was leaving the country for his own safety.
“The reality is that Clinton van Niekerk, an ex-employee of Moti Group, stole more than 4,000 confidential files from the group, which he then passed on to Frikkie Lutzkie, knowing that he is currently embroiled in a legal battle with my organisation.
“Clinton had no right to hold, copy or share any of the Moti Group’s information or any of my personal documents, especially those of my children, when he knew and understood the dangers that my family and I are threatened with. In the transcript, it is preposterous to think that a high court judge would call a police station to assist in the release of a guilty man under the order of a different jurisdiction, without listening to any other party,” said Moti.
Moti said Lutzkie and Van Niekerk will face “the full force of the law (as well as others involved, such as advocate Rowan and judge Shapiro)” as his legal counsel will be working on the appropriate relief to address their fake allegations made in court, and their crimes to dismiss Van Niekerk’s arrest, as well as all the various criminal offences that they committed against the Moti Group and himself.
“We are in addition lodging a complaint with the Randburg magistrate’s court to investigate the events that took place on January 27 2023, and in particular, the actions of a certain prosecutor as well as an attorney, Stephen May, in regards to this matter,” said Moti.
TimesLIVE
'A miscarriage of justice': controversial businessman Zunaid Moti
Image: File
Controversial businessman Zunaid Moti has hit out at the criminal justice system and his former legal adviser in an ongoing war of attrition in which Moti has been accused of murder and bribery.
When Clinton van Niekerk, Moti’s former legal adviser, appeared in the Randburg magistrate's court on Friday, the case was struck off the roll. This was after acting judge Warren Shapiro in the Durban high court ruled that he should be released from custody.
Moti, head of the Moti Group, on Thursday said he had received a copy of court transcripts of the hearing and considered it “a miscarriage of justice”.
“The court heard, through Frikkie Lutzkie, a witness whose affidavit was read into the court record, that Moti had allegedly been involved in a double murder, assassinations and bribing of civil servants, and that he operated in a network similar to a mafioso gang. However, Moti hit out, saying Lutzkie and Van Niekerk trivialised the Moti Group’s claim in the criminal charges that an employee’s theft of its corporate information, including personal information of his children's birth certificates, were shared with Lutzkie.
“What happened in this ex-parte court application (where the respondents were not present) is a complete miscarriage of justice. The acting judge (Warren) Shapiro in the KwaZulu-Natal, Durban division of the high court said in court that he had acted for Lutzkie before in a commercial matter and even asked if there were objections to this, though only one side was present,” said Moti.
He further said the respondents in the matter, which included various officers from the SAPS as well as himself (against whom the allegations are levelled), were never served with papers in the matter.
“The order to set aside Van Niekerk’s warrant of arrest was made without the application of the audi alteram partem rule, which is a right to all parties in court proceedings, which means “let the other side be heard as well”. It is the principle that no person should be judged without a fair hearing in which each party is given the opportunity to respond to the evidence against them.
“From the transcript, it is clear that judge Shapiro had had some interaction with advocate Rowan before the matter being heard in court,” he said.
Moti made these claims despite him not being a respondent in the matter, only the police minister and the station commanders of Verulam and Sandton police stations were listed as respondents. Neither were present in court, thus leading to the application being heard unopposed.
Moti was not a respondent in the application. Only the police were. So he would not have been informed of it. The police did not attend court on Friday and it remained unopposed. Moti also alleged that the bail granted to Van Niekerk was akin to a “backdoor bail application”.
Van Niekerk was detained overnight at Verulam police station last Wednesday, pending his transfer to Sandton.
The next day his lawyers made an urgent application before the Durban high court's acting judge Shapiro, obtaining an order interdicting police from taking him to Johannesburg and giving police until Friday to oppose the finalisation of the interdict.
But — in spite of the judge personally telephoning the police station to advise them of the order and it being served electronically and then personally — it was apparently ignored and Van Niekerk was driven to Johannesburg by the investigating officer.
At the hastily convened interdict hearing, former cage fighter and coal tycoon Frederick Lutzkie testified that Moti was an “extremely dangerous man” and that he had, without cause, had Van Niekerk arrested.
A source told TimesLIVE he had information on a deal Moti concluded in Zimbabwe. He was leaving the country for his own safety.
“The reality is that Clinton van Niekerk, an ex-employee of Moti Group, stole more than 4,000 confidential files from the group, which he then passed on to Frikkie Lutzkie, knowing that he is currently embroiled in a legal battle with my organisation.
“Clinton had no right to hold, copy or share any of the Moti Group’s information or any of my personal documents, especially those of my children, when he knew and understood the dangers that my family and I are threatened with. In the transcript, it is preposterous to think that a high court judge would call a police station to assist in the release of a guilty man under the order of a different jurisdiction, without listening to any other party,” said Moti.
Moti said Lutzkie and Van Niekerk will face “the full force of the law (as well as others involved, such as advocate Rowan and judge Shapiro)” as his legal counsel will be working on the appropriate relief to address their fake allegations made in court, and their crimes to dismiss Van Niekerk’s arrest, as well as all the various criminal offences that they committed against the Moti Group and himself.
“We are in addition lodging a complaint with the Randburg magistrate’s court to investigate the events that took place on January 27 2023, and in particular, the actions of a certain prosecutor as well as an attorney, Stephen May, in regards to this matter,” said Moti.
TimesLIVE
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