The criminal trial of suspended Pretoria chief magistrate Desmond Nair began this week in the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court, with the State opening its corruption case over security installations valued at approximately R200,000 at his Gauteng residence. Nair pleaded not guilty on Monday as proceedings got under way, and the prosecution began presenting evidence through its first witness, an employee of a subsidiary of Bosasa, the company now known as African Global Operations.
The witness gave evidence on security upgrades allegedly installed at Nair’s home in September 2016. According to Henry Mamothame, spokesperson for the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), the installations allegedly included an electric fence, an alarm system, perimeter beams and closed-circuit television cameras. The State’s case is that these works constituted gratification offered to and received by Nair to influence him to act dishonestly or improperly in his position as a judicial officer.
The allegations trace back to testimony before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, chaired by former chief justice Raymond Zondo. As previously reported by IOL, former Bosasa employee Richard Le Roux told the commission in 2019 that security systems worth approximately R200,000 had been installed at Nair’s Pretoria home. Le Roux testified that he had been instructed to oversee security installations at the homes of several prominent individuals, and the alleged upgrades at Nair’s residence were among the benefits linked to Bosasa that came under scrutiny during the inquiry.
The commission’s findings raised broader questions about whether arrangements of this kind were intended to secure favour or influence from public officials, since Bosasa, through its subsidiaries, was alleged to have provided security installations and other benefits to influential people. Mamothame said Nair was among those whose alleged links to the company prompted investigations into possible misconduct.
Nair has contested the State’s version. He maintains the security work was undertaken through an agreement with a man identified as Doofjam Kumar Bejoo. According to IOL’s earlier reporting, Nair said that agreement covered the installation of a basic camera system and repairs to existing security equipment, including the electric fence and alarm system, at an agreed maximum cost of R50,000. He disputes the allegation that he received the upgrades free of charge as a benefit intended to influence his conduct as a magistrate.
The prosecution’s decision to proceed followed a key institutional step in 2024, when the National Director of Public Prosecutions rejected representations from Nair seeking to have the charges withdrawn. That determination cleared the way for trial.
Nair’s suspension from his position as Pretoria chief magistrate dates to 2020, when he was removed from duty following allegations that he had received the security upgrades from Bosasa. Meanwhile, misconduct proceedings were instituted against him under the Magistrates Act and the Code of Judicial Conduct for Magistrates, placing the question of his fitness for judicial office on a separate institutional track running alongside the criminal case.
The matter remains part of the wider scrutiny of relationships between Bosasa and public officials that emerged from testimony before the State Capture Commission. The trial continues on October 27, 2026, when the Pretoria Commercial Crimes Court will resume hearing the State’s evidence, and the first witness’s testimony will shape how the corruption case against a senior judicial officer unfolds.