Former Eskom boss Matshela Koko and his co-accused have argued in the Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court that corruption charges should be dropped due to delays in the case. Judgment was reserved.

On Thursday, arguments were heard in the Middelburg Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in an inquiry into the reason for the delay in the R2.2-billion Kusile Power Station corruption case involving former Eskom boss Matshela Koko and others.

The inquiry, conducted under section 342(a) of the Criminal Procedure Act, is investigating any delay in the completion of proceedings and whether the delay was unreasonable. It could result in the case being struck off the roll.

The National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA's) Investigating Directorate (ID) had requested a further postponement on the basis that three statements were outstanding from witnesses in the US, and three more from witnesses in Germany, while prosecutors were also awaiting expert reports from a data analyst and from a forensic auditor.

The accused include former SA Local Government Association boss Thabo Mokwena, Koko, his wife, Mosima Koko, and Koko's stepdaughters, Koketso Aren and Thato Choma, Eskom's project director at Kusile, Hlupheka Sithole, lawyer Johannes Coetzee, Koko associate Watson Seswai, and German nationals Markus Bruegmann and Sunil Vip. Last month, Lese'tsa Mutchinya was added as accused number 18.

Debating delays

Lawyers for the accused challenged the attempt to postpone the case for investigation, arguing it would prejudice...