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Wonder Hlongwa
KwaZulu-Natal Premier Ben Ngubane’s office says it is going ahead with a R5-million grant to an anti-crime scheme managed by controversial double agent Mohammed Amin Laher – alias Mark Todd – in spite of Laher’s murky past.
Laher, who is under investigation for alleged fraud, assault and misrepresenting his identity, featured prominently in Mail & Guardian articles a year ago which explored a wider conspiracy in the April 1993 assassination of South African Communist Party leader Chris Hani.
Laher went to ground at the time. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s investigations unit tried unsuccessfully to find him, because it wanted to interview him about his knowledge of the assassination. The commission’s amnesty committee last month wrapped up its hearings into amnesty applications by Clive Derby-Lewis and Janusz Waluz, both serving life sentences for Hani’s assassination, but has not yet announced a decision.
The M&G recently stumbled across Laher when tipped off that the operations director of the Car Watch Community Programme in Durban was under police investigation.
Laher allegedly gave a false name – Mark Todd – and identity details when he joined Durban’s CR Swart community policing forum’s area board early this year. His Car Watch business card lists his name as Mark Todd, the name by which recent associates appear to know him.
He has told the M&G he used the new name because disclosure of his true identity might endanger his life. He claimed he was in the process of legally changing his name. He gave his new name as both Mark Laher and Mark Laher Todd.
Last year the M&G learnt of a number of other aliases he used, including Joseph Khan and Dave Brunner. But the most intriguing name used by Laher – son-in-law of deceased drug lord Shariff Khan – is “Ramon”, the code name that appeared on intelligence documents for which Laher was the source.
Among these documents was a missive likely to have been delivered to the old National Intelligence Service (NIS) before Hani’s assassination, warning of the plot against the communist party leader. Laher’s handler was Eugene Riley, a member of the notorious military intelligence Civil Co-operation Bureau, who also maintained contact with the NIS. Riley was killed in an yet-unsolved shooting in January 1994.
Equally intriguing, Laher also kept in contact with members of the African National Congress’s then-department of intelligence and security. Although the ANC denied knowledge of Laher last year, former operatives in the department later confirmed the contact and the name of Laher’s “handler”.
Laher has told the M&G he was a double agent and gave sketchy details of how he came to have pre-knowledge of the Hani assassination plot, variously implicating ANC leaders and operatives on “both sides of the spectrum”.
Durban’s Car Watch scheme has been hailed as a forerunner to similar operations countrywide – a co-ordinated effort to regularise parking “attendants”.
Premier Ngubane last month made a R5-million pledge to Car Watch at a provincial crime summit. He hailed the scheme for its efficiency in controlling crime in downtown Durban and along the beachfront.
The premier this week reconfirmed his commitment to Car Watch, saying he believed Laher had good intentions but he did not want to be “dragged into” allegations about his past.
Laher’s lawyers, VJ Kooblal and Associates, say they have written to Minister of Safety and Security Sydney Mufamadi questioning the allegations against Laher.