Wally Mbhele
The Mozambican judge handling the case of detained foreign affairs official Robert McBride has been threatened by people he believes to be South African agents who have ordered him to nail McBride or “otherwise you’ll be in trouble”.
A reliable source has informed the Mail & Guardian that Judge Carlos Caetano, who has been criticised for inexplicable delays in his handling of the case, has confided in McBride’s legal team about telephone calls by “Afrikaners” warning him to secure a conviction against McBride. As a result of the threats he has stopped driving his own car and is being transported by colleagues in Maputo.
The judge’s confession was made this week as the charge sheet against McBride – who has been detained for more than 40 weeks – was redrawn to include charges of espionage, and expunge all reference to the left-wing conspiracy to overthrow the African National Congress government that formed the basis of the earlier charges, and to the discredited Meiring report.
The threats to the judge and the constant signs of a South African security presence in Maputo make a mockery of the South African government’s attempts to distance itself from the McBride saga on the basis that “justice must take its course” and that Mozambique’s sovereignty must be defended.
Superintendent “Lappies” Labuschagne, who was withdrawn from the case after his involvement in alleged human rights violations during the apartheid era came to light, was seen at the Mozambican attorney general’s office two weeks ago. He has also been spotted at the South African high commission’s offices in Maputo.
South African diplomatic representatives have not visited McBride since he was suspended from his post as a director of foreign affairs in March.
Other developments around the McBride case point to a sustained attempt by old-guard elements in the security forces to spread disinformation about security issues such as the recent spate of arms thefts from South African National Defence Force bases.
The basis for the McBride case, according to documents before the Mozambican court, remains the testimony of Vusi Mbatha, the military intelligence and police spy who was arrested with McBride.
Despite the numerous contradictions in his testimony and his role in the discredited Meiring report, Mbatha’s South African police handler, Marius Korf, has made a statement to the Mozambican criminal investigations division that Mbatha is a “brilliant and professional informer”. He also praises him for his honesty. The statement is reinforced by Mozambican detectives, who claim McBride was not aware Mbatha was a spy.
However, they are seemingly unaware that McBride took Mbatha to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission last year because he believed Mbatha could shed light on gun- running and his activities as a spy at the home of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela.
Madikizela-Mandela intended to travel to Maputo this week to defend McBride. However, the latest charge sheet has expunged all mention of her.
McBride was present two weeks ago when Mbatha made his latest statement to investigators in which he refuted earlier claims based on the Meiring report that Madikizela-Mandela and other leftwingers were involved in a conspiracy to overthrow the government.
The new charge sheet bases its allegations of espionage on the claim that McBride was “in the country secretly”. This is backed up by a statement from the Department of Foreign Affairs indicating that McBride was on leave when he was arrested, and had failed to inform his employers that he was leaving the country.
Espionage is defined in the document as “taking place when someone attempts to obtain secret information related to defence of the security of a state and of the international politics and relations of a country with the intention of revealing such information to an entity or foreign power”.
The charge sheet refers to records of cellphone calls between McBride and Mbatha from January to March. There is also a statement from Nelspruit police confirming that McBride flew to Mozambique in January.
The Mozambicans are also basing their charges on McBride’s movements in Mozambique, with documents from the Cardoso hotel, Avis car hire and documents showing that the 4×4 vehicle he was driving when he was arrested belongs to his wife, Paula McBride.
They also make reference to a series of border entries into Mozambique by Mbatha, including one on January 27 when he entered in a car with Gauteng number plates and left without it on January 30.
The charge sheet claims that the weapons found in self-confessed Mozambican arms trafficker Alex Mamba’s flat, most of which were malfunctioning, were taken from Xai Xai military base north of Maputo, and that McBride and Mamba were the only ones involved in the smuggling.