Former NPA director in Mpumalanga fired for bringing institution into disrepute

Matric Luphondo is on trial along for attempting to bribe a fellow prosecutor

Matric Luphondo, the former acting director of public prosecutions in Mpumalanga, has been fired following a labour arbitration process as his criminal trial for corruption continues, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said on Friday.

Luphondo was found guilty by the arbitrator of bribery, contravening clause 4.3.4 (a) of the NPA code of ethics and bringing the organisation into disrepute. 

He was dismissed on Wednesday, NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga said.

“The NPA adheres to strict anti-corruption policies and practices and has a zero-tolerance approach to corruption within its ranks,” Mhaga said, adding that Luphondo’s sanction underscored the authority’s commitment to rooting out corruption including “within its own senior ranks”.

“Adv Luphondo, in particular as a senior manager in the NPA, should have acted at all times with the highest ethical standards and executed his duties without fear, favour or prejudice.”

Luphondo was placed on cautionary suspension on 4 April 2021, days after he was arrested along with Hawks lieutenant-colonel Ayanda Plaatje and Kebone Masange, the head of the Mpumalanga department of human settlements.

He is on trial in the Pretoria high court for trying to bribe senior Pretoria state prosecutor Andrew Mphanga with cash and a bottle of fine whisky in exchange for dropping charges of fraud and contravention of immigration laws against Masange. 

Mphanga immediately reported the bribery attempt to his superiors and to the police.

Luphondo allegedly met him in a McDonald’s restaurant in Arcadia in March 2021 and told him Masange was “willing to do anything to get out of the case”.

At a second meeting, Mphanga testified, Luphondo handed him a box containing R5 000 in cash and a bottle of 18-year-old Glenfiddich, and suggested further gratification would follow. 

Luphondo tried unsuccessfully to have the labour court declare the disciplinary process unlawful.

He pleaded not guilty to all charges in the arbitration hearing, He submitted that the evidence was fabricated and further that the NPA could not bring disciplinary charges against him based on criminal allegations in the absence of a court conviction.

This objection was dismissed because the burden of proof in disciplinary and criminal proceedings are different.

The arbitrator found that it was highly unlikely that Mphanga would not only fabricate evidence but report it to the deputy director of public prosecutions in Pretoria and the police, concluding: “The version of the employer is far more probable than the version of the employee.”

Luphondo had been tasked with monitoring evidence that emerged from the Zondo commission with a view to formulating charges against those implicated in state capture.
He was also one of the candidates for the position of national director of public prosecutions, which went to Shamila Batohi in 2019.