Sechaba ka’Nkosi and Bruno Willemse
A diamond deal that went terribly wrong last week has shaken the inner circles of the African National Congress in the Northern Cape and cast doubts on the future of its Premier, Manne Dipico.
Dean Snyders, a former activist and close friend of Dipico, was arrested last week on charges of dealing in uncut diamonds with a total value of R1,8-million.
He has submitted sworn affidavits to his lawyers, accusing Dipico of setting him up to be arrested.
Snyders alleges a complicated sting operation had been planned by police, who rented a house opposite his and offered to sell him four uncut diamonds.
However, he claims, minutes before the transaction was concluded, he realised the “sellers” were police and fled the scene. He was nonetheless arrested and charged.
He claims that before he was released on R20 000 bail at the weekend, a police officer in the Kimberley organised crime unit admitted to him that a diamond worth R346 000 that went missing during the “transaction” had been stolen from him by the police to smear him.
He claims he is a victim of a power struggle between senior ANC members in the province. The ANC provincial general council recently heard allegations of hit lists and telephone buggings from members
Snyders would not give further details on why he believes Dipico is behind his arrest, saying the matter is in the hands of his lawyer. Despite numerous requests for comment, Dipico’s office did not respond by the time of going to press.
However, sources say Snyders’s fall-out with Dipico began when he was openly accused of funding a campaign for the chair of the parliamentary standing committee on labour in the national assembly, Godfrey Oliphant, to oust Dipico and take over the premiership in the next election.
Oliphant has been gaining support within the Northern Cape ANC’s rank and file and is a strong candidate for election as chair at the party’s provincial conference in September.
The relationship between Snyders and Dipico deteriorated further when the premier decided not to purchase the premises of local property magnate Piet Els, a close friend of Snyders, for use as a parliamentary building.
Snyders had previously worked for Dipico’s administration as a consultant on land reform in the province.
ANC Northern Cape representative Mafu Davids denied any existence of factions within the party, saying any suggestions to that effect were “both ludicrous and absurd”.
“There is no cabal within the ANC. The fact that people meet to discuss issues of provincial interest does not make them a cabal,” said Davids.
However, sources are adamant that the emerging divisions and factions within the organisation have already been reported at the ANC headquarters in Johannesburg.
To retaliate against Snyders, Dipico and his provincial Director General, Martin van Zyl, allegedly issued a directive to all government departments in the province last September advising them not to use the services of Snyders’s travel agency, Smart Travel.
The memorandum recommends the use of two white-owned agencies, Rennies and Astra Travels, as alternatives.
The Mail & Guardian is in possession of a letter signed by the provincial MEC for Housing and Local Government, Pakes Dikgetsi, querying the termination of the contract with Smart Travel.
The letter says the termination was not procedural, since there was no Cabinet resolution to use the recommended agencies.
Snyders has instructed his lawyers to use the same argument and sue the provincial administration for millions of rands for redress for the “discrimination” he has suffered.