Louise Flanagan
Defence Minsister Joe Modise says he wants to get to the bottom of the Anton Lubowski affair — but he is refusing to meet a Weekly Mail & Guardian request to view the files which Military Intelligence (MI) supposedly have on the assassinated Namibian advocate.
By producing the files, the military should be able to prove its claim that Lubowski was a paid informer. Lubowski was assassinated in Windhoek in September 1989 and the military’s clandestine Civil Cooperation Bureau (CCB) has been blamed for the murder.
Last week the WM&G published details of a lengthy investigation which found evidence indicating that Lubowski had been framed
by MI as a source, presumably in order to deflect suspicion from the CCB.
A spokesman for Modise said yesterday the minister was “deeply concerned” about the matter and was investigating. But he was unable to release any files because the Defence Force had informed him of a civil suit pending against the SANDF from Lubowski’s ex-wife — and the information was thus sub judice.
Meanwhile both the military and Pretoria lawyer Ernst Penzhorn have given puzzling answers to queries on the
Penzhorn, a naval commander in the Citizen Force, confirmed in a statement he had given the SADF advice during the 1980s on the Jalc grouping of front
In response to queries on whether he carried out legal work in connection with clandestine military operations, Penzhorn said: “I do not understand what is meant by ‘clandestine operations’. If this means that I acted as a spy or an agent for the SADF, the answer is
Penzhorn said he had signed the documents transferring ownership of Global Capital Investments in 1986 and had not had anything to do with it since then.
GCI was used by MI to launder the payments to Lubowski which were later used as “proof” that he was an agent.
But the documents in the GCI file at the Registrar of Companies disprove this, as they clearly indicate that the transfer of ownership from Penzhorn to a fictitious person were signed in March 1990.
Penzhorn could not say to whom he had sold GCI. He said that he signed blank transfer forms.
Penzhorn denied any knowledge of the payments to Lubowski or that he had ever instructed him as an
The SANDF also denied Penzhorn’s involvement and referred to the 1990 Harms Inquiry which found that Lubowski was an agent.
“Penzhorn transferred all his interests in GCI and had no further interests or obligations in GCI. As such he had no further interest in its bank account and had no knowledge of the cheques paid to Lubowski, nor of contacts between the SADF/MI and Lubowski,” said the SANDF statement.
The SANDF said the GCI bank account was closed on December 20 1989, although the WM&G has confirmed that the account only closed in May last year.