NPA head Shaun Abrahams this week confirmed that President
Jacob Zuma's second wife, Nompumelelo Ntuli-Zuma, remains a suspect in a case
involving an alleged plot to poison her husband, her lawyer said on Sunday.
Lashing out at the 18-month delay since the attempted murder
case was opened, Ntuli-Zuma's lawyer Ulrich Roux, said that this week's
confirmation that Ntuli-Zuma, nevertheless remained a suspect "smacks of
some kind of agenda".
"We have been trying to determine what has been going on for the last 18 months. It's just a blank hole."
Roux said that after a docket investigating allegations of
attempted murder was opened by Nkandla police in April 2015, Ntuli-Zuma
complied with a request to answer certain questions. She sent her response to
the KwaZulu-Natal Hawks in June last year.
After receiving no further feedback, Roux said that, in
September this year, he sent a request directly to Abrahams asking him to
provide an update on the investigation as well as indicate the status of
Ntuli-Zuma in the matter.
A letter from Abrahams, dated 17 October this year confirms,
"I have been advised that your client has been identified as one of the
suspects in the above matter".
Roux subsequently sent a letter to Abrahams on October 19,
requesting further information, including "what charges [have] been
preferred" against Ntuli-Zuma, who the "so-called co-accused"
were, as well whether the investigation into the matter had been completed.
"I have to date not received any further correspondence
from him,"Roux told News24 on Sunday.
"If there are allegations to answer, why not bring her
to court and test [them] in court?," he said. The delay was
"completely irregular,” said Roux."It is unprecedented and unheard
of… The NPA are dragging their feet."
On the fourth of January 2015, Ntuli-Zuma was apparently
asked by State Security Minister David Mahlobo to leave the Nkandla homestead
"under the guise that she was being implicated in a sensitive matter that
was being investigated," said Roux.
Media reports subsequently emerged of a poison plot
allegedly involving Ntuli-Zuma after Zuma fell ill in June 2014.
During a trip to the US two months later he learnt he had been poisoned.
In August last year, City Press and News24 reported that
Ntuli-Zuma and various accomplices were on the radar of authorities/ Ntuli-Zuma
has consistently denied any knowledge of the plot.
On Sunday, Roux said that Ntuli-Zuma's main priority
remained to have her named cleared.
"She has been co-operating from day one… her reputation
has suffered terribly," he said.
This weekend, the Sunday Times reported on the latest letter
from Abrahams.
The newspaper also said that it had spoken to family members
who suggested that there were possible talks to be held about reconciling Ntuli-Zuma
with her husband.
An unnamed source was also referred to as saying that
Ntuli-Zuma was training as a pastor and also wanted to reconcile.
However, Roux dismissed these claims, saying his client
denied all the information supplied by the "so-called source".
"My client is not returning to Nkandla and has not
become a pastor… She has made alternative arrangements pertaining to her and
the minor children's permanent residence."
Meanwhile, NPA spokesman Luvuyo Mfaku, on Sunday, declined
to comment on the matter saying the organisation did not investigate crimes,
and referred News back to Roux.
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