Sechaba ka’Nkosi
Fears are mounting that a network of senior police officers in the KwaZulu-Natal’s Midlands wants to sabotage the trial of alleged warlord Sifiso Nkabinde as they could also face charges if implicated when the trial begins in February next year.
The network is suspected to be involved in killings, intimidation of witnesses and plotting possible attempts on Nkabinde’s life should he be granted bail. Also in danger are members of Nkabinde’s self- defence units (SDUs) who have asked to turn state witnesses in return for immunity from prosecution.
National special investigations unit director Bushy Engelbrecht could not confirm the involvement of police in the intimidation and deaths of potential witnesses. He did, however, confirm that some SDU members have agreed to testify against Nkabinde.
“The problem is that with such cases, it is difficult for courts to prosecute because witnesses are killed or intimidated sometimes a day before the case is supposed to be presented to court. But this time we are extra careful,” he says, adding that this is where a certain Captain Gracious Shoba features prominently in his investigations.
Shoba, formerly in the Transkei Defence Force’s special forces and parachute battalion and now with military intelligence, is the man who trained most of the notorious SDU members in the homeland in the early 1990s, including Nkabinde’s right-hand man, Skhumbuzo “Bob” Ndlovu.
Engelbrecht maintains that Shoba is an asset; SDU members who wanted to testify against Nkabinde had approached Shoba and asked him to talk to the investigators about their proposal.
Yet, Shoba is alleged to have been seen with Ndlovu before he was arrested and charged with 40 counts of murder and at a time when the police had already put a R200 000 tag on his head .
Inkatha Freedom Party MPL Arthur Knigkrmer, during a snap debate in September on Nkabinde’s arrest, called Shoba’s involvement in the investigation part of a broad cover-up.
“The stench of death that hangs over Richmond is matched only by the stench of official cover-up.”
African National Congress leaders in Richmond say they are also worried that while Engelbrecht’s investigations continue to unmask the culprits in the violence, these are only foot soldiers, and senior police officers implicated still remain untouchables.
They count the deaths of witnesses. For example, Themba Chonco from Richmond was on the witness protection programme, but last week he was stabbed to death in what police described “a drunken brawl on a Durban beach”.
Engelbrecht says Chonco was problematic in the witness protection programme and used to “go about picking fights with people during his drinking sprees.”
Before Chonco’s death, former Richmond SDU member M’Southern Zondi was mysteriously gunned down in July, apparently after it leaked out that he was planning to approach Engelbrecht about his willingness to testify against his colleagues.
The ANC points to police officers such as Inspector Shane Morris of the Security Branch in Pietermaritzburg, whose main area of operation is Richmond, as cause for concern. Together with Inspector Piet Meiding, who is suspected of being Nkabinde and Ndlovu’s handler, Morris is said to be under investigation by Engelbrecht’s team for their role in “third-force” activities in the area. Yet so far, no arrests have been made.
Meiding is said to be in the process of being relocated to Gauteng, while Morris has been asked to leave the area because of suspected involvement in the violence.
Engelbrecht says he has been investigating certain police officers since his return to the area when violence erupted in Richmond last month. But he refuses to give any details about the extent of his probe.
“What I have established is that Sifiso [Nkabinde] and the SDU lead Richmond police by the nose. They certainly helped the police on the one hand while hiding their own atrocities on the other.”