Corruption-accused Desmond Nair fails in bid to have case dropped

JOHANNESBURG - Embattled Pretoria Chief Magistrate Desmond Nair has lost a bid to have the graft case against him dropped.

Nair, who’s currently suspended, is facing corruption charges over "home security upgrades" he received from Bosasa-linked Sondolo IT.

He had made representations to the head of the Investigating Directorate, Andrea Johnson, to have the charges quashed.

But during an appearance before the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court in Pretoria on Tuesday, it emerged that those representations were unsuccessful.

Desmond Nair is facing one count of corruption.

Nair has previously maintained that he arranged the home upgrades, over which he’s now charged, privately, denying any wrongdoing but the basis of his formal representations is unknown.

Regardless, the court heard on Tuesday that they had been unsuccessful.

Against this backdrop, the case has now been postponed until 15 March.

In the meantime, Nair will be considering whether or not to escalate his representations to National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi.