The ANC is facing a very serious crisis in the provinces: people are happy to resort to criminality to get their way. Sometimes it is rampant corruption, and in the case of Moss Phakoe in the North West, it is murder. Again we ask: is Luthuli House happy to sit on its hands as its provincial structures fall apart?
The African National Congress is facing a meltdown of terrifying proportions out in the provinces. There are two assaults on the soul of the party: in the one, powerful party bosses like John Block in the Northern Cape and David Mabuza in Mpumalanga are running the party - and the province - like their personal fiefdoms, to be looted at will.
In the other, factional battles within the ANC are playing out in extreme ways. A few days ago, former ANC mayor of Rustenburg Matthew Wolmarans and his bodyguard were jailed for the murder of ANC councillor and whistleblower Moss Phakoe in 2009. In Mpumalanga and KwaZulu-Natal, political assassinations are starting to multiply - and it's not different parties killing each other. This is all happening within the ANC.
The alarm bell that has been shrieking ceaselessly in the ANC has come from outside the party proper: its political ally, the Congress of South African Trade Unions. Its general secretary, Zwelinzima Vavi, eulogised Phakoe in City Press. He wrote: "Moss Phakoe's tragic story provides a shocking insight into the crisis of crime and corruption in our country.
He sacrificed his life for blowing the whistle on corruption in the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality in North West.
"Just before his assassination, Phakoe handed Wolmarans a dossier that implicated numerous politicians in acts of corruption in the municipality. He also had evidence of fraud in North West drought-relief projects. R33-million had been allocated for drought relief, but none of the money reached the communities in need. Instead, it was siphoned off through companies," Vavi wrote.
The reason why Wolmarans and his bodyguard are behind bars today is because North-West Cosatu secretary Solly Phetoe led a campaign to bring Phakoe's killers to justice, the general secretary said. The situation for this man got so fraught that Cosatu hired bodyguards to protect him.
And still, the rot goes deeper. Vavi mentioned even more instances of corruption in that province.
"Former Madibeng municipal manager Philemon Mapulane was arrested and charged with fraud and corruption for allegedly receiving bribes for tenders worth R100-million," he said. "Other Madibeng officials have been arrested and charged, and no fewer than 28 cases of fraud and theft involving amounts ranging from R61,000 to R30-million are being investigated." And this is just one province.
In Mpumalanga, political assassinations are all too common. Caswell Maluleke, a council speaker in Ehlanzeni, was shot 14 times in April 2000. He was the mayor of Bushbuckridge at the time and had been appointed to help re-establish the bankrupt and destroyed Bohlabela District Municipality in Limpopo. In 2009, Mbombela speaker Jimmy Mohlala was killed after he blew the whistle on tender corruption around the construction of the World Cup stadium in that city. Last year, Ehlanzeni chief whip John Ndlovu was murdered.
In KwaZulu Natal, a similar trend is emerging. The province is usually cast as homogenous and aligned in one purpose - to anoint ANC president Jacob Zuma for a second time. Yet, all is not as it seems. The Mail & Guardian interviewed a party member in the province who said that he carried a gun wherever he went in case one of his own party members attacked him.
"That ANC comrades in the province are packing heat to defend themselves against their 'own' indicates that the political temperature has reached boiling point: there have been three assassinations, allegedly political, in the province in just more than a year and a half, which debunks the notion that politics in the region is homogenous," the M&G said.
"Several provincial ANC members said the political landscape was just a few bullets and funerals away from 'Mpumalangaisation', a reference to the province where political murders are nearly as commonplace as potholes."
In the case of figures like John Block, the troubles take on a different form. Block was arrested and is being tried for widespread corruption.
Yet he enjoyed the support of large groups at his trial, and even the premier Hazel Jenkins. At this point, there is absolutely no indication that Block is going to be kicked out of the party.
On 20 July, the ANC's PR machine released a statement on Wolmarans. It said: "The ANC values (the) lives of all South Africans and is disappointed that a senior member of the organisation who has served in important positions as a PEC member and a Mayor in the North West has been found guilty of the murder of a whistle blower and a fellow ANC Councillor. It is not only disgusting, it also erodes the values on which the ANC is founded: values of interpreting selflessness and respect for one another and respect for life. Corruption has no place in the ANC or its government at all levels. We are therefore disgusted that in the court proceedings it emerged that Comrade Phakoe was murdered with intentions to cover corruption."
The feeling that the ANC would not have made a big deal of Wolmarans's arrest had Cosatu not intervened hangs thickly in the air.
For now, the country has been spared the murderous appetites of the provincial bosses at the national level. Luthuli House leaders merely content themselves with polluting the state security apparatus with political infighting. Heaven forbid that the ANC's provincial tendencies should find their way to Luthuli House. We'd all be in trouble.
We needn't wait for the provincial bosses to find their way to the national level - questions ought to be asked of the top party bosses right now. Why are they continuing to entertain unspeakable corruption and criminality in the provinces? The answer could, of course, lie in the vulnerability of President Jacob Zuma's presidency. Elected by a motley crew of people who were rejected by Thabo Mbeki, he can't exactly be seen to be lashing out against any one factional leader. He can't lead a move to eject Block out of the party, lest he frighten the likes of Mpumalanga's Mabuza. We all have to wait for Cosatu - easily the most powerful bloc in the tripartite alliance, when all its affiliates sing from the same hymn sheet - to start applying pressure before the ANC moves itself.
Vavi's frustration at the current state of events is fundamental. "The worst problem of all is the emergence of death squads. Political killings are on the rise, in particular in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. If this continues, anyone who speaks out will be silenced, the entire state will be auctioned to the highest bidder and we shall be well on our way to becoming a corrupt banana republic," he raged.
We've said before that as much as the public hates Cosatu during strike season, the federation often acts as the last bastion against corruption in the ANC. Cosatu balances out the powers of the "political hyenas" in the party. No matter what your politics are, you have to acknowledge that we have a lot to be grateful for as far as the unions are concerned.
But again we ask: why is the ANC waiting to be prodded by Cosatu before curbing the largesse of its corrupt regional bosses?
iMaverick is South Africa's first daily tablet newspaper and includes coverage from the Daily Maverick and Free African Media. To subscribe, go to: www.imaverick.co.za.
Source: All Africa
Showing posts with label Matthew Wolmarans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matthew Wolmarans. Show all posts
Monday, July 23, 2012
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Moss Phakoe’s spirit must galvanise us
On March 14 2009, Moss Phakoe – a beloved husband, son, brother and father, a dedicated trade unionist and a committed ANC councillor – was gunned down, aged 52, in his car in Rustenburg as he arrived home after putting up posters for the ANC election campaign.
Moss Phakoe started as a shop steward at the ATC factory in Brits. He was instrumental in establishing the then banned ANC in the region, for which he was brutally assaulted by the Bophuthatswana police. He became an organiser in the National Union of Metalworkers, but prioritised his work in the ANC, becoming a municipal councillor in 2002. He served as a member of the mayoral committee until he was removed three times by Rustenburg’s then mayor, Matthew Wolmarans, for trying to expose corruption. He was a perfect example of what a revolutionary activist should be: serving the people, expecting no personal reward and determined to expose those betraying our liberation movement through crime and corruption, which robs us of services and rots the moral fibre of our society.
This week, more than three years after Phakoe’s brutal assassination, Matthew Wolmarans and his former bodyguard, Enoch Matshaba, were convicted for the murder and sentenced to 20 years in jail and life imprisonment, respectively. MossPhakoe’s tragic story provides a shocking insight into the crisis of crime and corruption in our country. He sacrificed his life for blowing the whistle on corruption in the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality in North West.
Just before his assassination, Phakoe handed Wolmarans a dossier that implicated numerous politicians in acts of corruption in the municipality. He also had evidence of fraud in North West drought-relief projects. R33 million had been allocated for drought relief, but none of the money reached the communities in need. Instead, it was siphoned off through companies. Comrade Moss handed documents proving this fraud to the then minister for cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Sicelo Shiceka. Shiceka said he gave the documents to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
On the day of his funeral, the then provincial premier, Edna Molewa, said Phakoe’s death was a tragic loss of a loyal servant of the people of North West. She, Shiceka and the SAPS provincial commissioner all gave guarantees that investigations were at an advanced stage and an arrest was imminent. Yet for more than three years, MossPhakoe’s family and Cosatu’s North West provincial secretary, Solly Phetoe, bravely battled to bring the killers to justice. It meant march after march and endless demands that leads be followed up. Phetoe’s untiring efforts in this regard earned him so many enemies Cosatu was forced to hire bodyguards for him. Everything possible was done to delay the police investigation, protect the culprits and keep the truth from the people. Friends of the murderers even mobilised sycophants from the ANC to display the movement’s sacred ANC symbols outside court in support of the killers. Regrettably, those who bussed in these protesters remain members and leaders of the movement.
Allegations remain that others may be implicated in the murder, and Cosatu is continuing to demand the original report Phakoe submitted to be published and the whole truth be uncovered. We also demand the immediate release of a report by the SIU on corruption in 24 municipalities in the North West, which Shiceka promised the Cosatu central executive committee would be handed over but still has not. We need this to ensure those implicated do not go back to their offices to continue corruption.
City Press has reported that since MossPhakoe’s death, even more allegations of fraud and corruption in the province have surfaced, and are being probed by the Hawks. Former Madibeng municipal manager Philemon Mapulane was arrested and charged with fraud and corruption for allegedly receiving bribes for tenders worth R100 million.
Other Madibeng officials have been arrested and charged, and no fewer than 28 cases of fraud and theft involving amounts ranging from R61 000 to R30 million are being investigated. The best memorial to MossPhakoe will be to take forward the crusade he lived and died for – to rid our country of corruption and revive our traditions of selfless service to the people. We must root out the corrupt few who tarnish the image of the many who are decent and honest. Let us hope that all those facing charges of corruption and murder will now face the full force of the law – and that we see no more demonstrations of support for them.
Cosatu is campaigning that in Mangaung the ANC will endorse a call for those facing allegations of murder, rape and corruption to be forced to step aside while investigations take place, and that they only return to their positions once cleared. This is a big move that can help to clean up the image of our movement.
Cosatu has been in the vanguard of the fight to root out corruption. That is why we have set up Corruption Watch. We are determined to track down those hijacking our movement to make money, regardless of their connections, and ensure that they are brought to court and, if found guilty, punished severely. That is why we demand the Protection of State Information Bill. Although much improved, it must still be amended to ensure that officials cannot classify evidence of corruption as “secret” in order to punish whistle-blowers.
Cosatu has also called on the Protected Disclosures Act to be amended. Currently, this provides protection to employees only and excludes other individuals such as independent contractors and suppliers or recipients of services. Nepotism, patronage, corruption and greed are not only destroying the ethic of self-sacrifice and service to the people that has traditionally characterised our revolutionary movement. They are also exacerbating divisions and factionalism, which increasingly are not about ideology, but about access to tenders and contracts.
Leadership contests are now less about political principles than about which faction of which individual will advance business careers and fill bank accounts. The worst problem of all is the emergence of death squads. Political killings are on the rise, in particular in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. If this continues, anyone who speaks out will be silenced, the entire state will be auctioned to the highest bidder and we shall be well on our way to becoming a corrupt banana republic.
We owe it to Comrade Moss Phakoe’s memory to take a stand and say no to corruption.
Source: City Press
Moss Phakoe started as a shop steward at the ATC factory in Brits. He was instrumental in establishing the then banned ANC in the region, for which he was brutally assaulted by the Bophuthatswana police. He became an organiser in the National Union of Metalworkers, but prioritised his work in the ANC, becoming a municipal councillor in 2002. He served as a member of the mayoral committee until he was removed three times by Rustenburg’s then mayor, Matthew Wolmarans, for trying to expose corruption. He was a perfect example of what a revolutionary activist should be: serving the people, expecting no personal reward and determined to expose those betraying our liberation movement through crime and corruption, which robs us of services and rots the moral fibre of our society.
This week, more than three years after Phakoe’s brutal assassination, Matthew Wolmarans and his former bodyguard, Enoch Matshaba, were convicted for the murder and sentenced to 20 years in jail and life imprisonment, respectively. MossPhakoe’s tragic story provides a shocking insight into the crisis of crime and corruption in our country. He sacrificed his life for blowing the whistle on corruption in the Bojanala Platinum District Municipality in North West.
Just before his assassination, Phakoe handed Wolmarans a dossier that implicated numerous politicians in acts of corruption in the municipality. He also had evidence of fraud in North West drought-relief projects. R33 million had been allocated for drought relief, but none of the money reached the communities in need. Instead, it was siphoned off through companies. Comrade Moss handed documents proving this fraud to the then minister for cooperative governance and traditional affairs, Sicelo Shiceka. Shiceka said he gave the documents to the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).
On the day of his funeral, the then provincial premier, Edna Molewa, said Phakoe’s death was a tragic loss of a loyal servant of the people of North West. She, Shiceka and the SAPS provincial commissioner all gave guarantees that investigations were at an advanced stage and an arrest was imminent. Yet for more than three years, MossPhakoe’s family and Cosatu’s North West provincial secretary, Solly Phetoe, bravely battled to bring the killers to justice. It meant march after march and endless demands that leads be followed up. Phetoe’s untiring efforts in this regard earned him so many enemies Cosatu was forced to hire bodyguards for him. Everything possible was done to delay the police investigation, protect the culprits and keep the truth from the people. Friends of the murderers even mobilised sycophants from the ANC to display the movement’s sacred ANC symbols outside court in support of the killers. Regrettably, those who bussed in these protesters remain members and leaders of the movement.
Allegations remain that others may be implicated in the murder, and Cosatu is continuing to demand the original report Phakoe submitted to be published and the whole truth be uncovered. We also demand the immediate release of a report by the SIU on corruption in 24 municipalities in the North West, which Shiceka promised the Cosatu central executive committee would be handed over but still has not. We need this to ensure those implicated do not go back to their offices to continue corruption.
City Press has reported that since MossPhakoe’s death, even more allegations of fraud and corruption in the province have surfaced, and are being probed by the Hawks. Former Madibeng municipal manager Philemon Mapulane was arrested and charged with fraud and corruption for allegedly receiving bribes for tenders worth R100 million.
Other Madibeng officials have been arrested and charged, and no fewer than 28 cases of fraud and theft involving amounts ranging from R61 000 to R30 million are being investigated. The best memorial to MossPhakoe will be to take forward the crusade he lived and died for – to rid our country of corruption and revive our traditions of selfless service to the people. We must root out the corrupt few who tarnish the image of the many who are decent and honest. Let us hope that all those facing charges of corruption and murder will now face the full force of the law – and that we see no more demonstrations of support for them.
Cosatu is campaigning that in Mangaung the ANC will endorse a call for those facing allegations of murder, rape and corruption to be forced to step aside while investigations take place, and that they only return to their positions once cleared. This is a big move that can help to clean up the image of our movement.
Cosatu has been in the vanguard of the fight to root out corruption. That is why we have set up Corruption Watch. We are determined to track down those hijacking our movement to make money, regardless of their connections, and ensure that they are brought to court and, if found guilty, punished severely. That is why we demand the Protection of State Information Bill. Although much improved, it must still be amended to ensure that officials cannot classify evidence of corruption as “secret” in order to punish whistle-blowers.
Cosatu has also called on the Protected Disclosures Act to be amended. Currently, this provides protection to employees only and excludes other individuals such as independent contractors and suppliers or recipients of services. Nepotism, patronage, corruption and greed are not only destroying the ethic of self-sacrifice and service to the people that has traditionally characterised our revolutionary movement. They are also exacerbating divisions and factionalism, which increasingly are not about ideology, but about access to tenders and contracts.
Leadership contests are now less about political principles than about which faction of which individual will advance business careers and fill bank accounts. The worst problem of all is the emergence of death squads. Political killings are on the rise, in particular in Mpumalanga, KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. If this continues, anyone who speaks out will be silenced, the entire state will be auctioned to the highest bidder and we shall be well on our way to becoming a corrupt banana republic.
We owe it to Comrade Moss Phakoe’s memory to take a stand and say no to corruption.
Source: City Press
Friday, July 20, 2012
ANC hails Wolmarans prosecution
The ANC has welcomed the prosecution of former Rustenburg mayor Matthews Wolmarans.
“The successful prosecution... is a demonstration once more that this country cannot afford crime in whatever form and irrespective of who commits it,” African National Congress spokesman Jackson Mthembu said on Friday. “The ANC... is disappointed that a senior member of the organisation... has been found guilty of the murder of a whistleblower and a fellow ANC councillor,” he said in a statement.
Wolmarans was jailed for 20 years on Tuesday for the murder of Moss Phakoe. The Rustenburg High Court also sentenced Wolmarans's former bodyguard Enoch Matshaba to life in prison. Matshaba was arrested on August 4, 2011, after a witness told the police in Bela Bela about the crime. He saw Matshaba holding a gun at Phakoe's home just after hearing two gunshots. Wolmarans was arrested on September 24, 2011, together with Amos Mataboge and Oupa Mphomane. Charges against Mataboge and Mphomane were dropped.
Phakoe was shot dead at his home in Rustenburg north in March 2009 after handing over a dossier detailing corruption in the municipality to high-ranking ANC officials, including secretary general Gwede Mantashe and President Jacob Zuma. Phakoe also gave the dossier to former co-operative governance minister Sicelo Shiceka, in the presence of Wolmarans.
Jackson said: “The ANC has never lived with nor tolerated political assassins and we therefore condemn in strongest terms the act of political murder instigated by the former mayor.” The ANC would refer the matter to its national disciplinary committee. “We are confident that our disciplinary structures will deal with matter expeditiously and arrive at a sanction that will be commensurate to the serious offence committed by these comrades,” said Mthembu.
Source: IoL
“The successful prosecution... is a demonstration once more that this country cannot afford crime in whatever form and irrespective of who commits it,” African National Congress spokesman Jackson Mthembu said on Friday. “The ANC... is disappointed that a senior member of the organisation... has been found guilty of the murder of a whistleblower and a fellow ANC councillor,” he said in a statement.
Wolmarans was jailed for 20 years on Tuesday for the murder of Moss Phakoe. The Rustenburg High Court also sentenced Wolmarans's former bodyguard Enoch Matshaba to life in prison. Matshaba was arrested on August 4, 2011, after a witness told the police in Bela Bela about the crime. He saw Matshaba holding a gun at Phakoe's home just after hearing two gunshots. Wolmarans was arrested on September 24, 2011, together with Amos Mataboge and Oupa Mphomane. Charges against Mataboge and Mphomane were dropped.
Phakoe was shot dead at his home in Rustenburg north in March 2009 after handing over a dossier detailing corruption in the municipality to high-ranking ANC officials, including secretary general Gwede Mantashe and President Jacob Zuma. Phakoe also gave the dossier to former co-operative governance minister Sicelo Shiceka, in the presence of Wolmarans.
Jackson said: “The ANC has never lived with nor tolerated political assassins and we therefore condemn in strongest terms the act of political murder instigated by the former mayor.” The ANC would refer the matter to its national disciplinary committee. “We are confident that our disciplinary structures will deal with matter expeditiously and arrive at a sanction that will be commensurate to the serious offence committed by these comrades,” said Mthembu.
Source: IoL
Friday, March 23, 2012
President Zuma's phalanx of praetorian guards
Spy boss Richard Mdluli, whom Jacob Zuma "owes for his acquittal on rape charges", has emerged as part of a complex network "guarding" the president. President Jacob Zuma seems to be creating a personal shield and spear in the justice and security sectors: a phalanx of praetorian guards allied to him and to each other.
These connections appear to be driving key interventions, notably:
The withdrawal of murder and corruption charges against suspended police Crime Intelligence Service (CIS) boss Richard Mdluli;
The closure of the Hawks investigations into Mdludli and the broader abuse of CIS slush funds;
The suspension of Hawks KwaZulu-Natal commander Johan Booysen; and
The replacement of KwaZulu-Natal CIS head Deena Moodley by acting commander Brigadier Thuso Tshika.
The central member of this grouping appears to be Mdluli, with other key players clustered around him, including Safety and Security Minister Nathi Mthethwa; acting police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi; acting national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) Nomgcobo Jiba; commercial crime prosecutions boss Lawrence Mrwebi; North West crime intelligence heavyweight Colonel Tsietsi Mano; and Mdluli murder case co-accused Colonel Nkosana “Killer” Ximba. “President Jacob Zuma believes he owes Mdluli for his acquittal in the rape case,” said one National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) source, while denying the correctness of this belief.
Whatever the truth may be, it appears that Mdluli himself is keen to hint at this connection. In his November 2010 top-secret report to Zuma setting out his allegations of a conspiracy against him, Mdluli says: “My relationship with Colonel Ximba is on a professional level, both politically and work related — Colonel Ximba is an active member of the ANC and during the struggle was a leader of one of the self-defence units — Colonel Ximba also played an important role in the Polokwane conference and also during the president’s trying times with his engagement with the NPA.”
According to reports, it was Mdluli who, following his appointment as CIS head in 2009, boosted Ximba up the ranks from constable to colonel. Mdluli appears to have been hand-picked by Zuma allies for the crime intelligence position and was appointed over the objections of then-acting commissioner Tim Williams.
Last year Williams, who has retired, spoke out against the appointment, telling City Press he regarded the appointment process as irregular and politically motivated. “He was appointed by the minister,” he said, referring to Mthethwa. In the run-up to his appointment Mdluli also played a key role in an apparent campaign against the Scorpions that united both the Zuma and Mbeki factions of the ANC.
One of Mdluli’s confidants, Colonel Tsietsi Mano, was called in to pursue the investigation of Gauteng Scorpions boss Gerrie Nel. Mano roped in Nel’s then-subordinate, advocate Nomgcobo Jiba, in a bid to have an arrest warrant issued against Nel on the eve of the planned arrest of Jackie Selebi.
When the NPA suspended and disciplined Jiba, Mdluli submitted a dramatic affidavit in her defence, revealing for the first time that crime intelligence had monitored the conversations of Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy and quoting extracts from the McCarthy transcripts. These intercepts were later leaked to Zuma’s attorney, Michael Hulley, and formed the basis for the NPA decision to drop charges against Zuma. According to evidence gathered for Jiba’s disciplinary hearing, she also roped in former KwaZulu-Natal Scorpions boss Lawrence Mrwebi, who had also become concerned at the allegedly partisan nature of the Scorpions investigations.
In November last year Zuma appointed Mrwebi to head the commercial crime division in the face of reports that then-director of prosecutions Menzi Simelane had recommended someone else. It was Mrwebi who in December 2011 ordered the withdrawal of fraud charges against Mdluli that had been investigated by the Hawks. Mdluli was accused of personally benefiting from discounts earned on the purchase of vehicles by crime intelligence. In doing so, Mrwebi overrode the views of Glynnis Breytenbach, and her opposition to the withdrawal of charges against Mdluli has been partly blamed for subsequent attempts to suspend her. A well-placed source said that Zuma had gone as far as attending a function held by Mdluli to celebrate the withdrawal of charges, though this could not be independently confirmed.
Neither presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj nor Mdluli’s lawyer responded to questions about Zuma’s meeting with Mdluli. After the December 2011 decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal that Simelane’s appointment was invalid, Zuma appointed Jiba as acting NDPP to replace him. Mano was also appointed to head a North West task team probing the 2009 murder of councillor Moss Phakoe, who had circulated an internal ANC dossier alleging Rustenburg ANC heavyweight Matthew Wolmarans was involved in corruption.
The investigation under Mano went nowhere but, according to a City Press report, there was a breakthrough in 2011 after Hawks investigators found the Phakoe docket during a raid on Mdluli. This could suggest that Mano withheld crucial information about a party official from all but Mdluli, who also sat on it. Mdluli also brought in Mano to trace the source of a report in the Sunday Independent in October 2010, which raised serious allegations of corruption and nepotism against Mdluli and suspended national police commissioner Bheki Cele.
The report appeared to have been sourced from disgruntled crime intelligence members in KwaZulu-Natal, and Mdluli instructed Mano to establish the source of the leaks against him. At the time he was given this sensitive task, Mano was out on bail in connection with his alleged involvement in the assault of a robbery suspect. He had also been slammed by a North Gauteng High Court judge for his alleged involvement in the torture of traditional healer Madimetja Phineas Kutumela, a suspect in the murder of Constable Francis Rasuge, who had disappeared in 2004.
Mano is understood to have laid the blame for the leaks at the door of a senior counterintelligence officer, but the KwaZulu-Natal complaints seem to have formed the basis for the recent purge of senior crime intelligence officers in the province, driven by acting national commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. Earlier this month, CIS provincial boss Deena Moodley was transferred out of crime intelligence and replaced by Brigadier Thuso Tshika.
Tshika, described by someone who knows him as “more of a politician than a policeman”, is a former MK operative.
Moodley is perceived as being close to Johan Booysen, the head of the Hawks in KwaZulu-Natal.
Booysen and Cele
Both minister Mthethwa and acting commissioner Mkhwanazi have been at the forefront of efforts to suspend Booysen, who on Thursday succeeded in having his suspension overturned in court for the second time.
The claim against Booysen is that he failed to act against members of the so-called Cato Manor Organised Crime Unit “death squad” that fell under his indirect command.
The unit, involved in a number of suspicious deaths, was disbanded by Mkhwanazi, but the move against Booysen is widely regarded a an indirect blow against Cele, of whom he was considered an ally.
It is understood that Hawks boss Anwa Dramat, to whom Booysen reports, believes there is no real case against him, but—as with the termination of the Mdluli investigation—has complied with Mkhwanazi’s instructions.
Panday and friends
The determination to unseat Booysen may, however, have more to do with the Panday case than with Cele. In court papers, Booysen claimed the campaign against him is driven by millionaire Durban businessman Thoshan Panday and the provincial supply chain police boss Colonel Navin Madhoe.
Booysen’s Hawks have been investigating the pair for allegedly massively inflating hotel bills for police accommodation sourced by Panday’s companies.
Panday appears to have powerful friends. Two independent sources, who declined to be named, have claimed that Zuma’s son Edward had attempted on several occasions to speak to Booysen about Panday.
Edward Zuma could not be reached for comment.
Another source, who also declined to be named but is regarded as close to Cele, said that Deebo Mzobe, a distant relative of President Zuma, had also sought to intervene on Panday’s behalf in a meeting with Cele.
Contacted for comment, Mzobe denied this. “No, that is not true,” he said. “We talk a lot with the commissioner [Cele]; we have a lot of things we discuss. I can’t say specifically what I go there to talk about.”
Mzobe denied he was in business with Panday. “Not at all; there is no business we are running together. I know him —we discuss [business], but we don’t have a particular business together.”
The M&G has identified at least three companies that show both Panday and Mzobe registered as directors. Mzobe, who is described as a “friend” of the president, is involved in the Masibambisane Rural Development Initiative with Zuma in Nkandla and elsewhere.
The project is controversial, as it is seen as using presidential influence to push state resources in the direction of favoured communities.
Source: Mail & Guardian
These connections appear to be driving key interventions, notably:
The withdrawal of murder and corruption charges against suspended police Crime Intelligence Service (CIS) boss Richard Mdluli;
The closure of the Hawks investigations into Mdludli and the broader abuse of CIS slush funds;
The suspension of Hawks KwaZulu-Natal commander Johan Booysen; and
The replacement of KwaZulu-Natal CIS head Deena Moodley by acting commander Brigadier Thuso Tshika.
The central member of this grouping appears to be Mdluli, with other key players clustered around him, including Safety and Security Minister Nathi Mthethwa; acting police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi; acting national director of public prosecutions (NDPP) Nomgcobo Jiba; commercial crime prosecutions boss Lawrence Mrwebi; North West crime intelligence heavyweight Colonel Tsietsi Mano; and Mdluli murder case co-accused Colonel Nkosana “Killer” Ximba. “President Jacob Zuma believes he owes Mdluli for his acquittal in the rape case,” said one National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) source, while denying the correctness of this belief.
Whatever the truth may be, it appears that Mdluli himself is keen to hint at this connection. In his November 2010 top-secret report to Zuma setting out his allegations of a conspiracy against him, Mdluli says: “My relationship with Colonel Ximba is on a professional level, both politically and work related — Colonel Ximba is an active member of the ANC and during the struggle was a leader of one of the self-defence units — Colonel Ximba also played an important role in the Polokwane conference and also during the president’s trying times with his engagement with the NPA.”
According to reports, it was Mdluli who, following his appointment as CIS head in 2009, boosted Ximba up the ranks from constable to colonel. Mdluli appears to have been hand-picked by Zuma allies for the crime intelligence position and was appointed over the objections of then-acting commissioner Tim Williams.
Last year Williams, who has retired, spoke out against the appointment, telling City Press he regarded the appointment process as irregular and politically motivated. “He was appointed by the minister,” he said, referring to Mthethwa. In the run-up to his appointment Mdluli also played a key role in an apparent campaign against the Scorpions that united both the Zuma and Mbeki factions of the ANC.
One of Mdluli’s confidants, Colonel Tsietsi Mano, was called in to pursue the investigation of Gauteng Scorpions boss Gerrie Nel. Mano roped in Nel’s then-subordinate, advocate Nomgcobo Jiba, in a bid to have an arrest warrant issued against Nel on the eve of the planned arrest of Jackie Selebi.
When the NPA suspended and disciplined Jiba, Mdluli submitted a dramatic affidavit in her defence, revealing for the first time that crime intelligence had monitored the conversations of Scorpions boss Leonard McCarthy and quoting extracts from the McCarthy transcripts. These intercepts were later leaked to Zuma’s attorney, Michael Hulley, and formed the basis for the NPA decision to drop charges against Zuma. According to evidence gathered for Jiba’s disciplinary hearing, she also roped in former KwaZulu-Natal Scorpions boss Lawrence Mrwebi, who had also become concerned at the allegedly partisan nature of the Scorpions investigations.
In November last year Zuma appointed Mrwebi to head the commercial crime division in the face of reports that then-director of prosecutions Menzi Simelane had recommended someone else. It was Mrwebi who in December 2011 ordered the withdrawal of fraud charges against Mdluli that had been investigated by the Hawks. Mdluli was accused of personally benefiting from discounts earned on the purchase of vehicles by crime intelligence. In doing so, Mrwebi overrode the views of Glynnis Breytenbach, and her opposition to the withdrawal of charges against Mdluli has been partly blamed for subsequent attempts to suspend her. A well-placed source said that Zuma had gone as far as attending a function held by Mdluli to celebrate the withdrawal of charges, though this could not be independently confirmed.
Neither presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj nor Mdluli’s lawyer responded to questions about Zuma’s meeting with Mdluli. After the December 2011 decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal that Simelane’s appointment was invalid, Zuma appointed Jiba as acting NDPP to replace him. Mano was also appointed to head a North West task team probing the 2009 murder of councillor Moss Phakoe, who had circulated an internal ANC dossier alleging Rustenburg ANC heavyweight Matthew Wolmarans was involved in corruption.
The investigation under Mano went nowhere but, according to a City Press report, there was a breakthrough in 2011 after Hawks investigators found the Phakoe docket during a raid on Mdluli. This could suggest that Mano withheld crucial information about a party official from all but Mdluli, who also sat on it. Mdluli also brought in Mano to trace the source of a report in the Sunday Independent in October 2010, which raised serious allegations of corruption and nepotism against Mdluli and suspended national police commissioner Bheki Cele.
The report appeared to have been sourced from disgruntled crime intelligence members in KwaZulu-Natal, and Mdluli instructed Mano to establish the source of the leaks against him. At the time he was given this sensitive task, Mano was out on bail in connection with his alleged involvement in the assault of a robbery suspect. He had also been slammed by a North Gauteng High Court judge for his alleged involvement in the torture of traditional healer Madimetja Phineas Kutumela, a suspect in the murder of Constable Francis Rasuge, who had disappeared in 2004.
Mano is understood to have laid the blame for the leaks at the door of a senior counterintelligence officer, but the KwaZulu-Natal complaints seem to have formed the basis for the recent purge of senior crime intelligence officers in the province, driven by acting national commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. Earlier this month, CIS provincial boss Deena Moodley was transferred out of crime intelligence and replaced by Brigadier Thuso Tshika.
Tshika, described by someone who knows him as “more of a politician than a policeman”, is a former MK operative.
Moodley is perceived as being close to Johan Booysen, the head of the Hawks in KwaZulu-Natal.
Booysen and Cele
Both minister Mthethwa and acting commissioner Mkhwanazi have been at the forefront of efforts to suspend Booysen, who on Thursday succeeded in having his suspension overturned in court for the second time.
The claim against Booysen is that he failed to act against members of the so-called Cato Manor Organised Crime Unit “death squad” that fell under his indirect command.
The unit, involved in a number of suspicious deaths, was disbanded by Mkhwanazi, but the move against Booysen is widely regarded a an indirect blow against Cele, of whom he was considered an ally.
It is understood that Hawks boss Anwa Dramat, to whom Booysen reports, believes there is no real case against him, but—as with the termination of the Mdluli investigation—has complied with Mkhwanazi’s instructions.
Panday and friends
The determination to unseat Booysen may, however, have more to do with the Panday case than with Cele. In court papers, Booysen claimed the campaign against him is driven by millionaire Durban businessman Thoshan Panday and the provincial supply chain police boss Colonel Navin Madhoe.
Booysen’s Hawks have been investigating the pair for allegedly massively inflating hotel bills for police accommodation sourced by Panday’s companies.
Panday appears to have powerful friends. Two independent sources, who declined to be named, have claimed that Zuma’s son Edward had attempted on several occasions to speak to Booysen about Panday.
Edward Zuma could not be reached for comment.
Another source, who also declined to be named but is regarded as close to Cele, said that Deebo Mzobe, a distant relative of President Zuma, had also sought to intervene on Panday’s behalf in a meeting with Cele.
Contacted for comment, Mzobe denied this. “No, that is not true,” he said. “We talk a lot with the commissioner [Cele]; we have a lot of things we discuss. I can’t say specifically what I go there to talk about.”
Mzobe denied he was in business with Panday. “Not at all; there is no business we are running together. I know him —we discuss [business], but we don’t have a particular business together.”
The M&G has identified at least three companies that show both Panday and Mzobe registered as directors. Mzobe, who is described as a “friend” of the president, is involved in the Masibambisane Rural Development Initiative with Zuma in Nkandla and elsewhere.
The project is controversial, as it is seen as using presidential influence to push state resources in the direction of favoured communities.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Friday, May 13, 2011
A Rustenburg municipal councillor was killed within days of reporting a dodgy contract.
A Rustenburg municipal councillor was killed within days of reporting a dodgy contract. On the eve of the local government elections secret internal ANC and municipal documents obtained by the Mail & Guardian have opened a window on corruption in a major municipality—Rustenburg in North West.
The documents also show desperate attempts by local ANC structures to blow the whistle to the party and how these attempts may have cost Rustenburg councillor Moss Phakoe his life. Phakoe was gunned down in March 2009, two days after meeting Cooperative Governance Minister Sicelo Shiceka and handing over a dossier of allegations against office bearers and officials in the Bojanala District Municipality, which includes Rustenburg and Brits. One document, marked “secret”, is addressed to the Bojanala regional task team, which was part of a special provincial task group set up by the ANC’s national executive committee to deal with internal conflict and service delivery problems in the North West.
The document, understood to have been drafted in 2009 by ANC intelligence operatives deployed to the province, is a devastating assessment of the state of governance in the Rustenburg council. It notes: “Various law enforcement agencies . have been inundated with reports and complaints of rampant acts of corruption within the Rustenburg local municipality. The complaints relate to the inappropriate handling of tender processes, shabby and undeclared interests in such by council officials and or councillors . “The nature of the complaints illustrates that organised crime is prevalent . Criminals [and] corrupters have access and an upper hand over administrative procurement procedures and officials and are able to influence decisions on the basis of blackmail, bribes and extortion. “They are able to switch their operations, benefiting from small and major contracts in directorates where officials are easily corrupted, blackmailed or issued with unlawful instructions by their respective political or criminal principals to award tenders in favour of their principals’ preferred bidders.”
The document appears to have been drafted before Phakoe’s murder, but reflects many of his concerns. It reveals that the police were investigating a number of cases, including alleged corruption in relation to the outsourcing of the Rustenburg Kloof Holiday Resort and Conference Centre. The Rustenburg Kloof deal was one of the major concerns raised by Phakoe in his meeting with Shiceka, according to information obtained by the M&G from concerned local ANC members, who asked not to be identified. They said the contract was one of the key issues that had fanned the bitter rivalry between councillors in the municipality and the executive mayor at the time, Matthew Wolmarans. It seems that Phakoe drafted a report suggesting that Wolmarans, who chaired the committee responsible for recommending the successful bidder, had interests in the deal. It was this report that Phakoe handed to Shiceka—and it may have played a role in the ANC.s eventual removal of Wolmarans as mayor in February last year.
Wolmarans has denied having any interest in the Rustenburg Kloof bid, which was awarded to a company called Omaramba. But one of the key players in Omaramba, North West businessman Oupa Mphomane, told the M&G that they were friends who had grown up together, although he denied they had a business relationship. “The councillors fighting with Wolmarans are behind these claims. I have always supported Wolmarans through funding for his political campaigns. As a businessman and an active member of the ANC I support the organisation ... I funded the provincial conference and about 3 000 people, including the MEC and ministers, came, ate and drank for free at the Kloof at the afterparty celebration,” Mphomane said. At the ANC provincial conference earlier this year Wolmarans made a political comeback, returning as a provincial executive committee member.
Phakoe’s Kloof report, which the M&G has seen, describes how an independent company appointed to evaluate the bids recommended another company, but says this advice was overturned by the committee chaired by Wolmarans, which recommended Omaramba despite its lower score. According to the Phakoe report, one of the shareholders in Omaramba was Silvia Moeng, Wolmarans’s sister-in-law, although this shareholding was later distributed among other shareholders.
Mphomane told the M&G: “I had a disagreement with my business partner because he proposed to hold a percentage of shares for his employee, Moeng, who never came to board meetings. We discussed it and agreed to share the stake among ourselves.” Wolmarans said this week that he knew about the allegations but that they had never been presented to him formally. “I have only heard rumours of people asking me about tenders and my relationship with Mphomane. It is not true that I had interest in any of the tenders and I had already moved from the committee to do special projects when the Rustenburg Kloof deal was finalised. Those allegations were made by disgruntled councillors.”
He confirmed that Moeng was his sister-in-law but denied that he had any knowledge of her involvement in Omaramba. “I didn't know that she was a shareholder. I know that Mphomane is a co-owner of the business. I know Mphomane, but I don.t have any business relationship with him.” However, company records show that Wolmarans is a director of a shelf company with Mphomane. The company, Mega Works Trading Enterprise 171, was registered last year.
Local ANC members hostile to Wolmarans are understood to have sent a document to senior provincial and national ANC leaders arguing that Phakoe’s corruption allegations should be considered a motive for his murder. It appears that the police have taken this claim seriously. The M&G has confirmed that investigators obtained surveillance tapes from a garage where Mphomane and Wolmarans had a meeting a week before the murder. Mphomane dismissed suggestions of his involvement, saying they were part of a “whispering campaign” against him. He confirmed that the police had questioned him about his meeting with Wolmarans at the garage as well as about Phakoe’s murder. He explained that the two were on their way to another meeting and had met at the garage to share a vehicle.
Responding to questions about the videotapes showing that he was armed, Mphomane was forthright: “I'm a businessman; I always have my guns for protection.”
Source: Mail & Guardian
The documents also show desperate attempts by local ANC structures to blow the whistle to the party and how these attempts may have cost Rustenburg councillor Moss Phakoe his life. Phakoe was gunned down in March 2009, two days after meeting Cooperative Governance Minister Sicelo Shiceka and handing over a dossier of allegations against office bearers and officials in the Bojanala District Municipality, which includes Rustenburg and Brits. One document, marked “secret”, is addressed to the Bojanala regional task team, which was part of a special provincial task group set up by the ANC’s national executive committee to deal with internal conflict and service delivery problems in the North West.
The document, understood to have been drafted in 2009 by ANC intelligence operatives deployed to the province, is a devastating assessment of the state of governance in the Rustenburg council. It notes: “Various law enforcement agencies . have been inundated with reports and complaints of rampant acts of corruption within the Rustenburg local municipality. The complaints relate to the inappropriate handling of tender processes, shabby and undeclared interests in such by council officials and or councillors . “The nature of the complaints illustrates that organised crime is prevalent . Criminals [and] corrupters have access and an upper hand over administrative procurement procedures and officials and are able to influence decisions on the basis of blackmail, bribes and extortion. “They are able to switch their operations, benefiting from small and major contracts in directorates where officials are easily corrupted, blackmailed or issued with unlawful instructions by their respective political or criminal principals to award tenders in favour of their principals’ preferred bidders.”
The document appears to have been drafted before Phakoe’s murder, but reflects many of his concerns. It reveals that the police were investigating a number of cases, including alleged corruption in relation to the outsourcing of the Rustenburg Kloof Holiday Resort and Conference Centre. The Rustenburg Kloof deal was one of the major concerns raised by Phakoe in his meeting with Shiceka, according to information obtained by the M&G from concerned local ANC members, who asked not to be identified. They said the contract was one of the key issues that had fanned the bitter rivalry between councillors in the municipality and the executive mayor at the time, Matthew Wolmarans. It seems that Phakoe drafted a report suggesting that Wolmarans, who chaired the committee responsible for recommending the successful bidder, had interests in the deal. It was this report that Phakoe handed to Shiceka—and it may have played a role in the ANC.s eventual removal of Wolmarans as mayor in February last year.
Wolmarans has denied having any interest in the Rustenburg Kloof bid, which was awarded to a company called Omaramba. But one of the key players in Omaramba, North West businessman Oupa Mphomane, told the M&G that they were friends who had grown up together, although he denied they had a business relationship. “The councillors fighting with Wolmarans are behind these claims. I have always supported Wolmarans through funding for his political campaigns. As a businessman and an active member of the ANC I support the organisation ... I funded the provincial conference and about 3 000 people, including the MEC and ministers, came, ate and drank for free at the Kloof at the afterparty celebration,” Mphomane said. At the ANC provincial conference earlier this year Wolmarans made a political comeback, returning as a provincial executive committee member.
Phakoe’s Kloof report, which the M&G has seen, describes how an independent company appointed to evaluate the bids recommended another company, but says this advice was overturned by the committee chaired by Wolmarans, which recommended Omaramba despite its lower score. According to the Phakoe report, one of the shareholders in Omaramba was Silvia Moeng, Wolmarans’s sister-in-law, although this shareholding was later distributed among other shareholders.
Mphomane told the M&G: “I had a disagreement with my business partner because he proposed to hold a percentage of shares for his employee, Moeng, who never came to board meetings. We discussed it and agreed to share the stake among ourselves.” Wolmarans said this week that he knew about the allegations but that they had never been presented to him formally. “I have only heard rumours of people asking me about tenders and my relationship with Mphomane. It is not true that I had interest in any of the tenders and I had already moved from the committee to do special projects when the Rustenburg Kloof deal was finalised. Those allegations were made by disgruntled councillors.”
He confirmed that Moeng was his sister-in-law but denied that he had any knowledge of her involvement in Omaramba. “I didn't know that she was a shareholder. I know that Mphomane is a co-owner of the business. I know Mphomane, but I don.t have any business relationship with him.” However, company records show that Wolmarans is a director of a shelf company with Mphomane. The company, Mega Works Trading Enterprise 171, was registered last year.
Local ANC members hostile to Wolmarans are understood to have sent a document to senior provincial and national ANC leaders arguing that Phakoe’s corruption allegations should be considered a motive for his murder. It appears that the police have taken this claim seriously. The M&G has confirmed that investigators obtained surveillance tapes from a garage where Mphomane and Wolmarans had a meeting a week before the murder. Mphomane dismissed suggestions of his involvement, saying they were part of a “whispering campaign” against him. He confirmed that the police had questioned him about his meeting with Wolmarans at the garage as well as about Phakoe’s murder. He explained that the two were on their way to another meeting and had met at the garage to share a vehicle.
Responding to questions about the videotapes showing that he was armed, Mphomane was forthright: “I'm a businessman; I always have my guns for protection.”
Source: Mail & Guardian
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