Implicated: Security companies said to have given weapons to civilians in Phoenix include Royal Security, run by Roy Moodley (in red shirt), who is close to Jacob Zuma (centre), (Photo by Gallo Images / Sowetan / Thuli Dlamini)
A security company owned by Roy Moodley, a benefactor of former president Jacob Zuma, is among four such firms being investigated by police and industry regulators following the killing of 36 people in Phoenix in north Durban.
This as the governing party battles to deal with its members implicated in instigating the unrest, including a KwaZulu-Natal mayor and rank and file party members.
However, sources in the party have told the Mail & Guardian that though a list has been handed over to the provincial leadership, “there is very little that can be done. The problem is that at provincial level, people have their own allegations so if you take actions on those who are implicated even if you know they were directly involved, you would have to take action against those who are implicated in other crimes.”
Another source said that people cannot be prosecuted for joining WhatsApp groups.
Moodley’s company, Royal Security — which has been implicated — enjoys lucrative contracts with a number of municipalities and government departments in the province, including a controversial R85-million-a-month security tender with the eThekwini municipality, which was declared unlawful but has been extended on a month-to-month basis since 2017.
Moodley famously paid Zuma R64 000 a month from July 2007 until two months into his presidency.
Moodley is also national treasurer of one of the two factions battling for control of the South African National Civic Organisation, which has been thrown into disarray by the factional battles within the governing party and its alliance partners.
On Tuesday Police Minister Bheki Cele, speaking at a media briefing at Inanda police station on the Phoenix killings, named the Royal and KZN VIP security companies as being among those under investigation.
They are alleged to have distributed weapons assigned to specific security officers to community members involved in setting up roadblocks in response to the wave of looting and arson attacks last month, which the government has characterised as an attempted insurrection.
The other companies under investigation are Reaction Unit SA and Sealan Security.
KZN VIP’s chief executive is Glen Naidoo, who stood as ANC councillor for ward 48 in 2016, but lost.
Glen Naidoo.Naidoo’s candidacy was endorsed by the eThekwini ANC region’s leadership, headed by then-chair Zandile Gumede, who was later recalled.
Reaction Unit SA was fined R20‑million by the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority in 2019 for improper conduct, which had earlier resulted in the company’s license being suspended over assaults committed by its employees.
Cele said that 152 weapons had been seized from the companies by police in the wake of the killings, carried out mainly by vigilantes who had set up roadblocks.
The weapons are believed to have been distributed among community members who ran the roadblocks from 12 July onwards, at which African residents of surrounding communities were racially profiled, attacked and in some cases killed.
The guns, which are understood to include shotguns, rifles and semi-automatic pistols, have been taken for forensic testing to ascertain whether they were used in any of the 36 murders committed in the area.
Police are investigating further cases of attempted murder stemming from vigilantism in Phoenix, which Cele described as “atrocities”’ that “have no place in our society.”
Cele said that 22 people were facing murder charges and were at varying stages of applying for bail.
At least one man, Mirandin Kaylyn Reddy, has been charged for violating the Private Security Industry Regulation Act.
Mirandin is the son of pastor Mervyn Reddy, a leading ANC activist in Phoenix. Mervyn Reddy was a close associate of late ANC funder and tenderpreneur Jay Singh, who acted as Singh’s spokesperson during the Tongaat Mall disaster.
The mall, built by Singh’s Gralio Precast, collapsed during construction in November 2013, killing two people and injuring 29 others.
Reddy was charged for illegal weapons, possession of stolen property, attempted murder and malicious damage to property, along with Justin Hira, Seelan Chetty, Owen Chinnasamh, Vernon Govender and Brenton Shunmogam. The bail applications have not been completed.
While much of the focus has been on Phoenix, Cele said investigations were continuing into the instigation and coordination of the week of violence, which claimed 337 lives in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng.
Cele said 12 people believed to be instigators of the attacks, which came after Zuma began his 15-month sentence, had been arrested.
The alleged involvement of ANC local, regional and provincial leaders in the violence has left its KZN leadership, which continues to call for Zuma’s release, with a problem.
Sources in the ANC in KZN have told the M&G that little can be done politically against members who are believed to be implicated. The insiders say the provincial secretary Mdumiseni Ntuli together with the provincial chair Sihle Zikalala handed over a list of names to the KZN security cluster for investigation.
Names handed over to the police and Luthuli House include councillors in the eThekwini municipality and others and a KZN mayor.
Efforts to reach Ntuli for comment were unsuccessful.
The insider, a leader in the province, said the ANC would only be able to act against those implicated should there be “reasonable cause” or if the members have been charged by the police.
“For now, we rely on the step-aside resolution to make any attempts at cleaning up. When people are charged, then we can act.”
Another provincial leader said he did not see that the ANC would act against any high-profile members.
“There is very little progress that can be made politically. I don’t think police and the ANC will get tangible proof of wrongdoing against any of the RET [radical economic transformation] leaders. We can’t rely on WhatsApp messages. If we would crucify people for joining WhatsApp groups then there would be very little leadership.”
A national leader said the national working committee (NWC), which sat on Monday, agreed that President Cyril Ramaphosa should act decisively against his security cluster after the insurrection. The NWC’s stance on the matter comes as pressure mounts for Ramaphosa to reshuffle his cabinet.
The M&G recently reported that those close to the president said he was waiting on his deputy David Mabuza’s return from Russia to throw down the gauntlet. Mabuza is said to have returned to the country on Wednesday and speculation has again been heightened of a possible reshuffle.
One national executive committee (NEC) member said Ramaphosa needed the support of the top officials, adding that he expected the president to package the reshuffle with the selection of new metro mayors in Mangaung and Johannesburg as well as the new premier of the Northern Cape. “He wants to make sure that when he reshuffles, he will not go back to do it again, like we saw in the days of president Zuma. He wants to do it once,” the NEC member said.
ANC deputy secretary general Jessie Duarte said that the ANC will act decisively against any of its members who have or continue to participate in these activities.
She confirmed that the party had received numbers from WhatsApp groups of ANC members who participated in the insurrection saying that the party was in the process of developing charges against party members.
“We will not interfere in any of the state agencies who are taking action in terms of that. Not all the people who are instigators are members of the ANC, we have ascertained that.”
She said the party had received a copy of the Free Jacob Zuma group who have called for an attack of areas in KwaZulu-Natal, adding that the party had sent the statement to law enforcement.
Attempts to obtain comments from Roy Moodley, Glen Naidoo and Mirandin Reddy were unsuccessful at the time of going to print.
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