National prosecutions head Bulelani Ngcuka "probably never" acted as an agent for the apartheid government, the Hefer Commission of Inquiry has found. "I have come to the conclusion that he probably never at any time before 1994 acted as an agent for a state security agency," commission chairperson, retired judge Joos Hefer, said in his final report made public yesterday. "... the suspicion which a small number of distrustful individuals harboured against him 14 years ago was the unfortunate result of ill-founded inferences and groundless assumptions".
The commissions report report can be found here.
President Thabo Mbeki, in a letter to Hefer, has accepted the commission's main findings. The judge made no finding as to whether Ngcuka had abused his official powers, saying this part of his brief had been cancelled by the finding that the prosecutions head had probably not been a spy. The two legs of the probe had to be linked, Hefer said. However, he described as "most disturbing" evidence by one of Ngcuka's main accusers - former transport minister Mac Maharaj - about leaks from the prosecuting directorate about a criminal investigation into Maharaj and his wife.
It was beyond doubt that such leaks did occur and it was highly likely that the guilty party was within Ngcuka's office, Hefer said. "Such a state of affairs cannot be tolerated," the report states. "Months have elapsed since Mr Maharaj was questioned by members of the investigating directorate (Scorpions) and, although Ngcuka has assured me that the investigation has not been completed, no charges have yet been preferred either against Maharaj or against his wife. In the meantime, press reports about the allegations kept appearing. In a country such as ours where human dignity is a basic constitutional value and every person is presumed to be innocent until he or she is found guilty, this is wholly unacceptable".
Although matters "do not appear to be what they should be" in Ngcuka's office, Maharaj's complaint in this regard was beyond the commission's terms of reference, Hefer said.
Source: Polity
Showing posts with label Hefer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hefer. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 21, 2004
Thursday, December 11, 2003
A defiant Ngcuka takes the stand
"I will not stand back," was national Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka's message on Wednesday at the start of his testimony before the Hefer Commission. The chief prosecutor read a prepared statement to the commission, warning that he would not back off from investigating his accusers. "We are all equal before the law, no matter how wealthy or in which position," he added.
The commission is probing allegations that Ngcuka served as an agent for the apartheid government and consequently abused his current powers. He said on Wednesday that he expected some to be baying for his blood if he performed his duties (as head of the National Prosecuting Authority) without fear or favour. However, it never occurred to him that his former liberation struggle comrades and leaders would be among them. Ngcuka was apparently referring to former transport minister Mac Maharaj and former intelligence commander Mo Shaik, who are his main accusers.
Ngcuka said he would not retreat and run back to the "hole" from which he came, as Shaik's brother Schabir earlier told him to do. With this Schabir -- who is being prosecuted by the NPA -- meant Middeldrift in the Eastern Cape where he was born, Ngcuka explained. He said he did not intend to break the confidentiality agreement between him and a group of editors whom he gave an off-the-record briefing in July. Maharaj and former City Press editor Vusi Mona earlier accused Ngcuka of defaming people at this meeting whom his Scorpions unit investigated. Ngcuka denied all the allegations on Wednesday. "I broke no law, I defamed no-one and I made no racist remarks about my fellow South Africans of Indian descent," he said.
Ngcuka also denied any further abuse of power, saying he was deeply respectful of the office he held. He said he knew only too well what it was like to be at the receiving end of the abuse of state power. He was referring to his suffering at the hands of the apartheid government's security police. Ngcuka reiterated that he was not before the commission to clear his name or prove his innocence. "There is no need for that," he said. He denied that he ever informed on his former struggle comrades, saying none of them were ever arrested because of what he said or did.
Source: Polity
The commission is probing allegations that Ngcuka served as an agent for the apartheid government and consequently abused his current powers. He said on Wednesday that he expected some to be baying for his blood if he performed his duties (as head of the National Prosecuting Authority) without fear or favour. However, it never occurred to him that his former liberation struggle comrades and leaders would be among them. Ngcuka was apparently referring to former transport minister Mac Maharaj and former intelligence commander Mo Shaik, who are his main accusers.
Ngcuka said he would not retreat and run back to the "hole" from which he came, as Shaik's brother Schabir earlier told him to do. With this Schabir -- who is being prosecuted by the NPA -- meant Middeldrift in the Eastern Cape where he was born, Ngcuka explained. He said he did not intend to break the confidentiality agreement between him and a group of editors whom he gave an off-the-record briefing in July. Maharaj and former City Press editor Vusi Mona earlier accused Ngcuka of defaming people at this meeting whom his Scorpions unit investigated. Ngcuka denied all the allegations on Wednesday. "I broke no law, I defamed no-one and I made no racist remarks about my fellow South Africans of Indian descent," he said.
Ngcuka also denied any further abuse of power, saying he was deeply respectful of the office he held. He said he knew only too well what it was like to be at the receiving end of the abuse of state power. He was referring to his suffering at the hands of the apartheid government's security police. Ngcuka reiterated that he was not before the commission to clear his name or prove his innocence. "There is no need for that," he said. He denied that he ever informed on his former struggle comrades, saying none of them were ever arrested because of what he said or did.
Source: Polity
Tuesday, November 11, 2003
South Africa's Ruling Party Struggles Within
Less than six months before South Africa's third presidential election, the ruling African National Congress is embroiled in an internal bloodletting that it seems powerless to stop. Already the volley of charges and countercharges has hurt the reputations of the deputy president and the national prosecutor. With the opening of what appears likely to become a lengthy inquiry into some of the allegations, President Thabo Mbeki may be hurt politically as well. For the last week, the South African public has focused on the juiciest aspect of the affair: the revelation that a white human rights lawyer who seemed to be a comrade in arms in the African National Congress's struggle against apartheid during the 1980's was in fact a spy for the apartheid government.
The lawyer, Vanessa Brereton, went public a week ago on South African television with a tearful confession that she had betrayed black South Africans' struggle for freedom because she was in love with a senior officer in the apartheid government's security police. As intelligence agent RS542, she said, she gave her lover and handler information about three antiapartheid activists, one of whom was later arrested and imprisoned without trial. Now living in England, Ms. Brereton said that she had apologized to those she betrayed and that she did not expect forgiveness.
But Ms. Brereton's role as an apartheid spy is but a sidelight in a poisonous battle for power between Mr. Mbeki's deputy president, Jacob Zuma, and the national prosecutor, Bulelani Ngcuka. Both men are senior members of the African National Congress, which gained more than 65 percent of the vote in the presidential election in 1999.
Mr. Ngcuka said openly in August that he suspected, but could not prove, that Mr. Zuma had benefited illegally from under-the-table dealings in a multibillion-dollar arms contract. Mr. Zuma's supporters struck back in September by accusing Mr. Ngcuka of acting as a spy -- code-named RS542 -- for the apartheid government in the last days of white rule here. That charge led Ms. Brereton to come forward because, she said, she did not want Mr. Ngcuka to suffer for her misdeeds. But Mr. Zuma's supporters have refused to back down, saying they never claimed to know the right code name for Mr. Ngcuka. Nor has the rivalry halted. Mr. Zuma has demanded a new inquiry into Mr. Ngcuka's conduct of the investigation into his role in the arms deal. In response, Mr. Ngcuka said Saturday that evidence against the deputy president would come out at the trial of an associate of Mr. Zuma's who was charged with fraud in the arms deal.
The battle has consumed the party since at least August. Mr. Mbeki's inability so far to resolve it has emboldened his detractors, who say he pays too much attention to his image as a statesman and not enough to problems at home. Mr. Mbeki reacted to the accusations against Mr. Ngcuka in early September by ordering a national commission of inquiry headed by a retired judge, Joos Hefer, to sort out the truth of the matter. That inquiry has bogged down amid reluctance by South Africa's intelligence agencies to fish through their apartheid files. ''So far, the commission is getting nowhere,'' said Shadrack Gutto, director for the Center of African Renaissance Studies at the University of South Africa. Judge Hefer is faced with a near impossible task, he said, and ''would do the nation some honor by throwing in the towel.'' However, others see the affair as evidence that South Africa's government is strong enough to chase down both corruption and possible abuse of prosecutorial power. ''This kind of thing does not happen in many countries, even in the developed world,'' said Thabisi Hoeane, a doctor of political studies at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. ''The allegations will be put out in the public eye, and we will eventually know the truth.''
Mr. Mbeki has rebuffed suggestions that Mr. Zuma should resign, saying no public official should be judged on mere allegations. Still, he has twice used his party's newsletter to lecture about the futility of hunting down the apartheid government's spies, saying South Africans closed that chapter of their history in the interest of unity. While there is little doubt that Mr. Mbeki will win re-election next spring, the affair has also given succor to Mr. Mbeki's critics -- long consigned to the status of permanent also-rans.
The leader of the Pan Africanist Congress has suggested that the nation's intelligence agencies are balking at subpoenas because they are protecting former apartheid spies within the government. The leader of the United Democratic Movement has charged that the A.N.C. labels dissenters as apartheid spies to silence them.
Source: New York Times
The lawyer, Vanessa Brereton, went public a week ago on South African television with a tearful confession that she had betrayed black South Africans' struggle for freedom because she was in love with a senior officer in the apartheid government's security police. As intelligence agent RS542, she said, she gave her lover and handler information about three antiapartheid activists, one of whom was later arrested and imprisoned without trial. Now living in England, Ms. Brereton said that she had apologized to those she betrayed and that she did not expect forgiveness.
But Ms. Brereton's role as an apartheid spy is but a sidelight in a poisonous battle for power between Mr. Mbeki's deputy president, Jacob Zuma, and the national prosecutor, Bulelani Ngcuka. Both men are senior members of the African National Congress, which gained more than 65 percent of the vote in the presidential election in 1999.
Mr. Ngcuka said openly in August that he suspected, but could not prove, that Mr. Zuma had benefited illegally from under-the-table dealings in a multibillion-dollar arms contract. Mr. Zuma's supporters struck back in September by accusing Mr. Ngcuka of acting as a spy -- code-named RS542 -- for the apartheid government in the last days of white rule here. That charge led Ms. Brereton to come forward because, she said, she did not want Mr. Ngcuka to suffer for her misdeeds. But Mr. Zuma's supporters have refused to back down, saying they never claimed to know the right code name for Mr. Ngcuka. Nor has the rivalry halted. Mr. Zuma has demanded a new inquiry into Mr. Ngcuka's conduct of the investigation into his role in the arms deal. In response, Mr. Ngcuka said Saturday that evidence against the deputy president would come out at the trial of an associate of Mr. Zuma's who was charged with fraud in the arms deal.
The battle has consumed the party since at least August. Mr. Mbeki's inability so far to resolve it has emboldened his detractors, who say he pays too much attention to his image as a statesman and not enough to problems at home. Mr. Mbeki reacted to the accusations against Mr. Ngcuka in early September by ordering a national commission of inquiry headed by a retired judge, Joos Hefer, to sort out the truth of the matter. That inquiry has bogged down amid reluctance by South Africa's intelligence agencies to fish through their apartheid files. ''So far, the commission is getting nowhere,'' said Shadrack Gutto, director for the Center of African Renaissance Studies at the University of South Africa. Judge Hefer is faced with a near impossible task, he said, and ''would do the nation some honor by throwing in the towel.'' However, others see the affair as evidence that South Africa's government is strong enough to chase down both corruption and possible abuse of prosecutorial power. ''This kind of thing does not happen in many countries, even in the developed world,'' said Thabisi Hoeane, a doctor of political studies at Rhodes University in Grahamstown. ''The allegations will be put out in the public eye, and we will eventually know the truth.''
Mr. Mbeki has rebuffed suggestions that Mr. Zuma should resign, saying no public official should be judged on mere allegations. Still, he has twice used his party's newsletter to lecture about the futility of hunting down the apartheid government's spies, saying South Africans closed that chapter of their history in the interest of unity. While there is little doubt that Mr. Mbeki will win re-election next spring, the affair has also given succor to Mr. Mbeki's critics -- long consigned to the status of permanent also-rans.
The leader of the Pan Africanist Congress has suggested that the nation's intelligence agencies are balking at subpoenas because they are protecting former apartheid spies within the government. The leader of the United Democratic Movement has charged that the A.N.C. labels dissenters as apartheid spies to silence them.
Source: New York Times
Sunday, October 12, 2003
Penuell Maduna throws in the towel
Penuell Maduna, the embattled minister of justice, says that he will not be available to serve as a minister in President Thabo Mbeki's cabinet after next year's elections. Maduna's statement, made during an exclusive interview, follows a series of allegations against him that range from spying for the apartheid regime to nepotism and corruption in his department.
Maduna acknowledged that the African National Congress had been torn apart by allegations that Bulelani Ngcuka, the national director of public prosecutions, had been an apartheid spy. "The ANC is hurting badly," he said. "But I don't care anymore what this [battle] is doing. It has already done a lot of damage. Families are suffering. They can't take it any longer. I will serve in the ANC in any other capacity, even as a floor sweeper." Asked whether he was set to quit his ministerial post now, Maduna said: "No, I am not quitting. I will serve my full term but I will not stand again."
Maduna's extraordinary pledge could make him the first victim of the escalating political row sparked by the Scorpions' investigation into whether Deputy President Jacob Zuma solicited a R500 000 bribe from a French arms company bidding in the multibillion-rand arms deal. The row reached new heights when ANC veteran Mac Maharaj supported claims that Ngcuka, the Scorpions' chief, was an apartheid spy.
This week a judicial commission, appointed by Mbeki and headed by Judge Joos Hefer, extended its mandate to include an investigation of Maduna as the minister with line responsibility for Ngcuka's national prosecuting authority. In an interview held at a Cape Town hotel, Maduna told of his anguish and frustration following accusations from mining magnate Brett Kebble that he had abused his office as the minister responsible for the national director of public prosecutions; claims by a senior official in his department that he was guilty of nepotism and corruption in the liquidation section; and continuing charges by Patricia de Lille, the leader of the Independent Democrats, that he was on a list of ANC apartheid spies.
Maduna, clearly at the end of his tether with the barrage of allegations made against him in recent weeks, said he had promised his family that he would quit his high-profile position. "I told the president my family is saying I should resign because they cannot take it any longer," Maduna said. "Just this morning one of my brothers-in-law, Sandile Mshengu, phoned me and said all my in-laws would be very happy if this noise stopped. I repeated the promise to him."
Maduna said he would serve his full term until the elections and would not leave the ANC, which he acknowledged was torn apart by the storm around Zuma and Ngcuka. Maduna admitted that the setting up of the Hefer commission two weeks ago was an attempt to stop the bleeding in the movement, "cauterising the wound" inflicted by the continuing backstabbing, smear campaigns and allegations of spying and misuse of office. Maduna also emphatically denied media reports that he recently threatened to resign after a fight with Zuma in a cabinet meeting.
The terms of reference of the Hefer commission were broadened this week to include a probe into whether Maduna and Ngcuka misused their offices "due to past obligations to apartheid". The commission was appointed originally to investigate allegations that Ngcuka was an apartheid informer, which surfaced in the wake of his comments that there was prima facie evidence of corruption against Zuma. As minister responsible for the investigation, Maduna has increasingly been drawn into the brawl. Furious, but in fight-back mode, Maduna spoke of a month-long campaign waged against him and Ngcuka in e-mails circulated to the media and the ANC, calling the two men "untouchables" who use their offices to target people selectively. "It's utter rubbish," Maduna said.
On September 15 he received a letter from Kebble in which allegations were made and responses demanded. "One of the allegations was that Bulelani and I were being controlled by the CIA," Maduna said. "Kebble copied the letter to the president, the minister of intelligence, the minister of safety and security, to Bulelani and the national commissioner of police, in a clear campaign against me. I ignored the letter, because I thought I should not stoop so low [as to respond]."
Maduna said on Monday he received another letter from Kebble, copied to others, that repeated the allegations while adding that the justice minister received a number of gifts, including a luxury motor vehicle for his personal use. "He said the car has since been sold," Maduna said. "My car at home smokes. It will not survive the election campaign. I have never had a luxury car for personal use."
Maduna said he told Mbeki this week that while both of them were concerned about the allegations, the smear campaign should be included in the brief of Judge Hefer. "I told the president: 'You are concerned, you want clean government. Expand the commission and ask the judge to subpoena them [the accusers]. Because I have never instructed prosecutors and members of the Scorpions to target any individual.' "
Kebble, who faces prosecution by the Scorpions for alleged fraud at Western Areas mine, had sent a complaint to the public protector, accusing Ngcuka of using his position to achieve his own ends. He said this week he was not attacking Maduna, but merely informing him of problems in his department that needed to be addressed. At a news conference this week, the mining magnate also lashed out at Ngcuka for a briefing recently to black editors on the Zuma affair, where he allegedly made comments about Kebble.
Maduna also wants the Hefer commission to probe allegations made in parliament in 1997 by De Lille that he was an apartheid spy, which she recently repeated to the media. He again said he was instructing his lawyers to pursue a defamation case against her. "I am going to fight her in a separate suit," Maduna said.
On the nepotism accusations levelled against him this week by Mike Tshishonga, the deputy-director general in the justice ministry, Maduna denied he was involved in the appointment of liquidators, an issue already rectified by Pravin Gordhan, the revenue services commissioner. Maduna alleged that Tshishonga was being used by "certain circles" to which the official could be connected and hinted that Tshishonga had an axe to grind after being rapped over the knuckles for poor work performance. "Mike is the most timid public servant," he said. "At worst he is the sort of person who would not be able to box himself out of a wet paper bag. You can print that."
Source: IoL
Maduna acknowledged that the African National Congress had been torn apart by allegations that Bulelani Ngcuka, the national director of public prosecutions, had been an apartheid spy. "The ANC is hurting badly," he said. "But I don't care anymore what this [battle] is doing. It has already done a lot of damage. Families are suffering. They can't take it any longer. I will serve in the ANC in any other capacity, even as a floor sweeper." Asked whether he was set to quit his ministerial post now, Maduna said: "No, I am not quitting. I will serve my full term but I will not stand again."
Maduna's extraordinary pledge could make him the first victim of the escalating political row sparked by the Scorpions' investigation into whether Deputy President Jacob Zuma solicited a R500 000 bribe from a French arms company bidding in the multibillion-rand arms deal. The row reached new heights when ANC veteran Mac Maharaj supported claims that Ngcuka, the Scorpions' chief, was an apartheid spy.
This week a judicial commission, appointed by Mbeki and headed by Judge Joos Hefer, extended its mandate to include an investigation of Maduna as the minister with line responsibility for Ngcuka's national prosecuting authority. In an interview held at a Cape Town hotel, Maduna told of his anguish and frustration following accusations from mining magnate Brett Kebble that he had abused his office as the minister responsible for the national director of public prosecutions; claims by a senior official in his department that he was guilty of nepotism and corruption in the liquidation section; and continuing charges by Patricia de Lille, the leader of the Independent Democrats, that he was on a list of ANC apartheid spies.
Maduna, clearly at the end of his tether with the barrage of allegations made against him in recent weeks, said he had promised his family that he would quit his high-profile position. "I told the president my family is saying I should resign because they cannot take it any longer," Maduna said. "Just this morning one of my brothers-in-law, Sandile Mshengu, phoned me and said all my in-laws would be very happy if this noise stopped. I repeated the promise to him."
Maduna said he would serve his full term until the elections and would not leave the ANC, which he acknowledged was torn apart by the storm around Zuma and Ngcuka. Maduna admitted that the setting up of the Hefer commission two weeks ago was an attempt to stop the bleeding in the movement, "cauterising the wound" inflicted by the continuing backstabbing, smear campaigns and allegations of spying and misuse of office. Maduna also emphatically denied media reports that he recently threatened to resign after a fight with Zuma in a cabinet meeting.
The terms of reference of the Hefer commission were broadened this week to include a probe into whether Maduna and Ngcuka misused their offices "due to past obligations to apartheid". The commission was appointed originally to investigate allegations that Ngcuka was an apartheid informer, which surfaced in the wake of his comments that there was prima facie evidence of corruption against Zuma. As minister responsible for the investigation, Maduna has increasingly been drawn into the brawl. Furious, but in fight-back mode, Maduna spoke of a month-long campaign waged against him and Ngcuka in e-mails circulated to the media and the ANC, calling the two men "untouchables" who use their offices to target people selectively. "It's utter rubbish," Maduna said.
On September 15 he received a letter from Kebble in which allegations were made and responses demanded. "One of the allegations was that Bulelani and I were being controlled by the CIA," Maduna said. "Kebble copied the letter to the president, the minister of intelligence, the minister of safety and security, to Bulelani and the national commissioner of police, in a clear campaign against me. I ignored the letter, because I thought I should not stoop so low [as to respond]."
Maduna said on Monday he received another letter from Kebble, copied to others, that repeated the allegations while adding that the justice minister received a number of gifts, including a luxury motor vehicle for his personal use. "He said the car has since been sold," Maduna said. "My car at home smokes. It will not survive the election campaign. I have never had a luxury car for personal use."
Maduna said he told Mbeki this week that while both of them were concerned about the allegations, the smear campaign should be included in the brief of Judge Hefer. "I told the president: 'You are concerned, you want clean government. Expand the commission and ask the judge to subpoena them [the accusers]. Because I have never instructed prosecutors and members of the Scorpions to target any individual.' "
Kebble, who faces prosecution by the Scorpions for alleged fraud at Western Areas mine, had sent a complaint to the public protector, accusing Ngcuka of using his position to achieve his own ends. He said this week he was not attacking Maduna, but merely informing him of problems in his department that needed to be addressed. At a news conference this week, the mining magnate also lashed out at Ngcuka for a briefing recently to black editors on the Zuma affair, where he allegedly made comments about Kebble.
Maduna also wants the Hefer commission to probe allegations made in parliament in 1997 by De Lille that he was an apartheid spy, which she recently repeated to the media. He again said he was instructing his lawyers to pursue a defamation case against her. "I am going to fight her in a separate suit," Maduna said.
On the nepotism accusations levelled against him this week by Mike Tshishonga, the deputy-director general in the justice ministry, Maduna denied he was involved in the appointment of liquidators, an issue already rectified by Pravin Gordhan, the revenue services commissioner. Maduna alleged that Tshishonga was being used by "certain circles" to which the official could be connected and hinted that Tshishonga had an axe to grind after being rapped over the knuckles for poor work performance. "Mike is the most timid public servant," he said. "At worst he is the sort of person who would not be able to box himself out of a wet paper bag. You can print that."
Source: IoL
Friday, October 10, 2003
Kebble: I may sue Ngcuka for defamation
Mining magnate Brett Kebble says he has reported National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka to the Public Protector and that he may yet sue him for defamation. "Far from being impartial, fair or upholding my constitutional rights (Ngcuka) has found me guilty without a trial and trampled on my rights," Kebble told a media conference on Thursday.
Ngcuka's statements had cost his company transactions that would have created thousands of jobs and enhanced South Africa's influence in Africa. He had filed a complaint with the Public Protector and would await the outcome of this investigation before deciding what other action to take. He had not ruled out the possibility of a defamation lawsuit, Kebble said. This follows a meeting Ngcuka had with selected newspaper editors on July 24 to brief them off the record on the progress of the investigation into allegations against Deputy President Jacob Zuma. Selected details of the briefing - including statements Ngcuka is alleged to have made about Kebble - were leaked to a weekly newspaper.
Kebble said he had not commented before as he had believed the state, especially the justice ministry, would deal with the problem. But "there has been a deafening silence from the authorities" about Ngcuka's "(abusing) his office when he addressed editors". Asked how he knew Ngcuka had made the statements reported by the weekly, Kebble said he had obtained "verification". He claimed a former associate, whom he was suing for more than R50-million he believed was owed to him, of being behind the campaign to "bring about my downfall".
Kebble faces trial on fraud charges, which he has said relate to alleged technical breaches of company regulations. Responding to Kebble's comments on Thursday, Ngcuka's office denied any wrongdoing in the criminal action against him or members of his family. "Mr Kebble will have ample opportunity to raise his concerns next week when he appears in the high court in Johannesburg to answer fraud charges relating to share price manipulation and other contraventions of the Companies Act," said the statement. It said Justice Minister Penuell Maduna had written to Kebble inviting him to put his allegations before Judge Joos Hefer's commission of inquiry, which would establish if there had been an abuse of power.
The retired judge is investigating an allegation, carried in a weekend newspaper, that Ngcuka had been an apartheid spy.
Source: IoL
Ngcuka's statements had cost his company transactions that would have created thousands of jobs and enhanced South Africa's influence in Africa. He had filed a complaint with the Public Protector and would await the outcome of this investigation before deciding what other action to take. He had not ruled out the possibility of a defamation lawsuit, Kebble said. This follows a meeting Ngcuka had with selected newspaper editors on July 24 to brief them off the record on the progress of the investigation into allegations against Deputy President Jacob Zuma. Selected details of the briefing - including statements Ngcuka is alleged to have made about Kebble - were leaked to a weekly newspaper.
Kebble said he had not commented before as he had believed the state, especially the justice ministry, would deal with the problem. But "there has been a deafening silence from the authorities" about Ngcuka's "(abusing) his office when he addressed editors". Asked how he knew Ngcuka had made the statements reported by the weekly, Kebble said he had obtained "verification". He claimed a former associate, whom he was suing for more than R50-million he believed was owed to him, of being behind the campaign to "bring about my downfall".
Kebble faces trial on fraud charges, which he has said relate to alleged technical breaches of company regulations. Responding to Kebble's comments on Thursday, Ngcuka's office denied any wrongdoing in the criminal action against him or members of his family. "Mr Kebble will have ample opportunity to raise his concerns next week when he appears in the high court in Johannesburg to answer fraud charges relating to share price manipulation and other contraventions of the Companies Act," said the statement. It said Justice Minister Penuell Maduna had written to Kebble inviting him to put his allegations before Judge Joos Hefer's commission of inquiry, which would establish if there had been an abuse of power.
The retired judge is investigating an allegation, carried in a weekend newspaper, that Ngcuka had been an apartheid spy.
Source: IoL
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