Criminal Case Against Ex-Prasa CEO and Cape Businessman for Rail Theft Postponed Again

The criminal proceedings against Mthuthuzeli Swartz, former acting CEO of the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (Prasa), and Cape Town businessman Syed Mohiudeen, accused of theft of a 42km railway line in the Eastern Cape, experienced another delay in the Gqeberha Regional Court this Thursday.

This prolonged case, which has been dragging for over four years since the arrests of Swartz and Mohiudeen in early 2019, has faced a series of postponements. The review application lodged by Mohiudeen in the Eastern Cape High Court seeking additional details about the charges against him has been a primary factor for these delays.

The charges explicate that in 2012, Swartz and Mohiudeen sold the dormant railway track stretching from Sterkstroom to Maclear in the Eastern Cape to Adrian and Cedric Samuels, cousins from Cape Town. The Samuels allegedly paid a deposit of R1.5 million to Mohiudeen’s company, Spanish Ice, for the 25,000 tonnes of steel that was apparently in storage at the Metrorail yard in Woodstock. Notably, Swartz held the position of Metrorail Western Cape Regional Manager at that time.

Despite being under scrutiny, Swartz was appointed as Prasa’s acting CEO on 1st January 2018. However, neither of the accused — Swartz nor Mohiudeen — were present in court this Thursday. To further complicate the matter, no representative for Mohiudeen was present.

Barrister Julian Lindoor, who was representing Swartz as a stand-in for advocate Mzwamadoda Mnyani, informed Magistrate Essie Mkhari that the case had previously been postponed "on three or four occasions" due to Mohiudeen challenging the previous verdict. He urged the court to issue arrest warrants but withhold Swartz's warrant until the next hearing.

The presiding magistrate, however, mentioned obstacles in issuing a warrant due to illegible court records. This confusion around issuing of warrants and bail money is now deferred to the next court date on December 1st.