Senior crime intelligence officer Major General Joey Mabasa, who has been linked to Czech fugitive from justice Radovan Krejcir, has been sacked from the police service with immediate effect.
Hawks spokesperson McIntosh Polela said that Mabasa was discharged under section 35 of the South African Police Service Act "because his services were no longer needed and because it is in the interest of the service to discontinue his job".
According to a police source, Mabasa's contract was terminated last Friday. The decision to sack him was made, the source said, after "publicity around Mabasa made it difficult for him to stay with the service". The source said that Mabasa would receive "some sort of a payout".
Mabasa was transferred last year from his position as head of crime intelligence for Gauteng back to head office in Pretoria, after questions were raised about his relationship with Krejcir. Krejcir's wife, Katarina, and Mabasa's wife, Dorcas, started a company together in 2009 and became co-directors of that company, called Radlochron. At the time, Mabasa claimed that he and his wife were separated, a claim not supported by circumstantial evidence. Krejcir said that the link with Mabasa's wife was innocent and the company never traded.
Krejcir also said that he was introduced to Mabasa through his attorney, Ian Small-Smith, when he (Krejcir) feared being kidnapped. When the Mail & Guardian exposed the business relationship between the wives of Krejcir and Mabasa last year, Krejcir's former business associate, Juan Meyer, accused Mabasa of holding meetings with the Czech at the Michelangelo Hotel in Sandton. The two men denied this. Meyer has alleged that he was present on two occasions when Mabasa was given bags that Meyer believed contained cash.
Krejcir also denied this last year and claimed that Meyer had not attended any meetings with Mabasa. After Mabasa's transfer to head office, more allegations surfaced, including allegations that crime intelligence was engaged in extensive phone tapping of Hawks members and others involved in the Krejcir investigation.
Questions were raised about who motivated this surveillance, who approved it and whether the information was passed on to Krejcir. It is alleged that in at least one case intercepted conversations found their way to targets of the Hawks' investigation, which includes not only Krejcir but a number of his associates. Mabasa's phone was off when the M&G tried to contact him.
Meanwhile, the M&G understands that crime intelligence boss Lieutenant General Richard Mdluli, who was suspended earlier this year after he was arrested for murder, has refused an offer similar to Mabasa's to leave.
Mdluli was allegedly given a week to explain to national police commissioner General Bheki Cele why he should not be fired.
Source: Mail & Guardian
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