Inkatha officials are refusing to co-operate with an official probe into alleged kwaZulu Police hit squads, report Chris Louw, Farouk Chothia and Ann Eveleth
NATIONAL Minister of Safety and Security Sydney Mufamadi faces a showdown with the Inkatha Freedom Party in his bid to root out suspected hit squad policemen from the kwaZulu Police (KZP) force.
Developments pointing to this are:
* kwaZulu/Natal premier Frank Mdlalose and his provincial safety and security minister, Celani Mthethwa, have rejected any suggestion that they co-operate with the official hit squad investigation appointed by Mufamadi last week;
* Home Affairs Minister Mangosuthu Buthelezi has issued a veiled threat that he will quit the government of national unity (GNU) over the hit squad probe; and
* controversial former KZP Sundumbili station commander Major Owen Zama has challenged Mufa- madis constitutional right to suspend him in the Durban Supreme Court.
Zamas challenge suggests that suspected hit squad members will put up a fight to remain in the force — and Mufamadi may have to resort to long, drawn- out court battles as a way to oust the policemen.
The station commander has brazenly defied Mufamadi by continuing to serve in his post — and is receiving his full salary and benefits. Mufamadis spokesman, Craig Kotze, said this was being done for humanitarian reasons.
In papers before Mr Justice Levinsohn last week, Zama argued that Mufamadi lacked the authority to suspend him as, in terms of the kwaZulu Police Act, only the kwaZulu cabinet had such power.
Although the kwaZulu cabinet no longer exists, the KZP remains intact pending the passage of the new Police Bill through parliament.
Mufamadi has to prove that the interim constitution gives him or the cabinet power to act against Zama.
Judge Levinsohn has asked legal representatives of the two parties to prepare heads of argument so he can determine whether Mufamadi has the authority to suspend Zama.
Zama is mentioned in a Transitional Executive Council report on hit squads dated March 31 this year, in which his involvement in an attack last year on ANC supporters in Sundumbili, Northern Natal, is alleged.
He was suspended in July after Natals attorney general, Tim McNally, decided to prosecute him for allegedly defeating the ends of justice.
As Mufamadi attempts to clean up the KZP, he also faces stiff opposition from the IFP majority in the kwa-Zulu/Natal government, and from Buthelezi at central government level.
Asked whether he would co-operate with the probe into KZP hit squads, Mdlalose replied: No, certainly not.
Mthethwa commented similarly: How can you co- operate with something you are not involved in?
Mufamadi announced a commission of inquiry last week, headed by former Goldstone Commission investigator Lieutenant Frank Dutton, to investigate alleged KZP hit squads.
Mufamadis decision followed fresh claims by retired KZP commissioner General Roy During in July that he was almost certain of the existence of hit squads in the force.
Mthethwa said that while Mufa-madi had publicly announced he would be consulted about the commission, he had merely been informed about it.
The Mail reported earlier this year that the Goldstone Commission had information Mthethwa had received weapons for the IFP from renegade South African policemen.
Mthethwas name also featured during a recent bail application by the former commander of the SAPs Vlakplaas hit squad base, Major Eugene de Kock, where it was alleged that the two had contact with each other.
Kotze said if the IFP, as an institution, refuses to co-operate it is one thing, but if individuals (refuse) then the law will take its course.
Asked whether this meant action would be taken against Mthethwa if he refused to testify, Kotze replied: We cant conjure what might happen before it happens.
In a bid to halt the hit squad probe, Buthelezi sent a letter on August 19 to both Mufamadi and Deputy President Thabo Mbeki warning that the inquiry would force him to weigh up the value of my being in the GNU against the costs of being in it.
Arguing that Mufamadis decision was beyond comprehension as it could upset brittle relations between the ANC and IFP, Buthelezi said it was unfair to single out the KZP — one of 11 police forces in the country — for a probe. He believed normal procedures should be used to investigate allegations against KZP members.
Asked by the WM&G whether he intended to resign in the wake of Mufamadis decision to go ahead with the inquiry, Buthelezi replied: … I wish to state that if and when the time is ripe, I will do so and it will be at the right time for the right reasons.