The case against mining magnate Roger Kebble was thrown out of court on Wednesday - but he is not off the hook yet, according to the National Prosecuting Authority.

Spokesperson Sipho Ngwema said: "The National Director of Public Prosecutions will apply his mind to the matter properly and then decide whether or not to proceed."

"If, in terms of the new development, there is nothing sufficient to change our decision to prosecute, the matter will go back on the roll. The impression that he was found not guilty is not true."

Ngwema was reacting to the news that Kebble's fraud case had been struck from the roll of the Johannesburg regional court earlier in the day.

Kebble was arrested on November 11, 2002 on 62 charges of fraud - amounting to about R7-million - and has been out on bail of R250 000.

Kebble's legal team argued that since his arrest almost two years ago a series of postponements on behalf of the state have amounted to a violation of Kebble's constitutional right to have a trial without unreasonable delay.

The trial was scheduled to start last Monday but a postponement was requested by the state to "consider the merits of the case".

On Wednesday a further postponement was requested by state Advocate Barry Roux SC to investigate "new evidence". Had the postponement been granted it would have been the 13th one since Kebble first appeared in court.

Roux asked magistrate Vivien Hawkins to give them some time to investigate a recently discovered statement relating to the fraud charges against Kebble.

The charges related to alleged inflated payments by gold producer Durban Roodepoort Deep (DRD) made to Skilled Labour Brokers, a company owned by Kebble. Kebble is the former deputy chairperson of DRD. The state claimed that the difference between the agreed amount (paid to Skilled Labour Brokers) and the inflated amount was deposited into Kebble's own account.

"We heard today (on Wednesday) that that amount paid into his (Kebble's) account was a loan amount," Roux said.

He explained that the recently discovered invoice reflected a series of interest payments which may have been a repayment of the alleged loan. Roux said the state required additional time to investigate.

However, Kebble's advocate Altus Joubert SC argued that the granting of an additional postponement was not in the interest of justice. He added that the unreasonable delays had affected his client personally and career-wise as Kebble had been subject to "high-profile stigma and occupational disruption".

Hawkins said the state's delays in finalising its case against Kebble gave a "strong indication that the prosecution was tardy and it could also be said that maybe they were overzealous in their investigation".

He found the delays were "unreasonable" and ordered the case struck off the roll. Hawkins also said charges against Kebble could not be reinstated unless written directions to that effect were given by the Director of Public Prosecutions.

In a statement Kebble claimed that he had been framed by a rival and said the fraud charges against him were bogus.

"As even a cursory investigation of the facts would show, the allegations were completely bogus," Kebble said.

He added that he now intended to issue claims against "various parties involved in my wrongful arrest and malicious prosecution".

"I will also be asking for the malicious prosecution to be independently investigated to ensure that other innocent people do not have to suffer as I have," Kebble said.

With acknowledgements to Nalisha Kalideen, Sapa and the Pretoria News.