A Cape Town businessman, Nadir Mohiudeen, accused of fraudulently selling off 42km of state railway line in the Eastern Cape, appeared without legal representation in the Gqeberha Commercial Crimes Court. Mohiudeen, who is accused number one, was arrested in early 2019, along with former Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa) Western Cape regional manager Mthuthuzeli Swartz. The case has been ongoing for more than seven years.
Mohiudeen and Swartz stand accused of selling off a disused Transnet railway line between Sterkstroom and Nqanqarhu to Durban-based company Akisisa in late 2012. Former Akisisa general manager Adrian Samuels testified in March last year that Mohiudeen, through his company, Spanish Ice, had brokered a deal through Swartz to sell the rail for scrap. Akisisa paid R1.5-million as a deposit before moving to uplift the rail, at a cost of R3.5-million to the company.
The rail removal was stopped in early February 2013 by Transnet security guards. This week was the seventh time hearings have been set down since the trial first got under way in March last year. Samuels's cross-examination, which began in March 2025, has still not been completed. The five intervening hearings were beset with various issues, including Samuels being ill and Mohiudeen juggling lawyers.
Before the trial got under way last year, it was delayed by Mohiudeen changing lawyers, attempts to obtain court transcripts, and an unsuccessful application by Swartz for a separation of trials. An application to the high court by Mohiudeen for a review of magistrate Nolitha Bara's dismissal of his request for further and better particulars of the case against him took two years to be heard and dismissed.
At the high court hearing, Mohiudeen told Judge Avinash Govindjee and Acting Judge Nicholas Mullins that he had tried to get legal representation from Legal Aid, but his application was turned down. On the first day of the last criminal case hearing in May, the court heard that attorneys YG & Associates had withdrawn from representing Mohiudeen due to non-payment of fees. However, advocate Cheryl Sjoberg appeared for Mohiudeen on instruction of YG & Associates.
The application for virtual testimony was granted by presiding magistrate Thabisa Mpimpilashe on 9 June. On Tuesday, Mpimpilashe expressed frustration at Mohiudeen appearing once again without legal representation. According to prosecutor Gerrit van der Merwe, YG & Associates had withdrawn as attorneys of record for Mohiudeen on 24 August. Mohiudeen claimed to have fully paid his attorneys and had come prepared for the continuation of the trial.
Mpimpilashe warned Mohiudeen to "be ready for any eventuality" and said she would rule on how to proceed on Wednesday morning. Swartz was represented by advocate Mzwamadoda Mnyani, instructed by attorney Julian Lindor from BNI Attorneys. The case will continue on Wednesday.
Key points
- The case against Nadir Mohiudeen and Mthuthuzeli Swartz has been ongoing for more than seven years.
- Mohiudeen has changed lawyers for the seventh time, causing further delays in the trial.
- The trial has been beset with various issues, including illness, non-payment of fees, and applications for virtual testimony.
