Ferial Haffajee
Two senior police officers have quit and a high-ranking internal investigation is under way to trace leaks from Wachthuis, the national police headquarters.
Ordered by National Commissioner George Fivaz at the behest of his aide, Director Craig Kotze, the investigation is said to have angered senior police who have been fingerprinted in the course of the investigation by Captain Andrew Leask.
Among them are directors Reg Crewe and Dave Bruce, who have quit the service and are serving their notice. The two are well- known public faces of the police.
Leask is attached to the office of Gauteng Attorney General Jan d’Oliviera, where he serves on the crack special investigations unit. The unit is an ace team that tracks dirty-tricks operations.
Now Leask, one of the unit’s best talents, has turned his attention on his colleagues to find out who has leaked sensitive information on political tension between Fivaz and Minister of Safety and Security Sydney Mufamadi. The investigation is an attempt to muzzle news of persistent tension between the two by weeding out moles.
Last year, Parliament’s portfolio committee on safety and security asked pointed questions about Kotze, suggesting he was a source of media leaks. Kotze is infamous for his double life as a journalist and security policeman in the 1980s. He maintains strong links with journalists and is a master of spin, which has made him a target of the investigation by the committee.
This week Kotze confirmed he had asked Fivaz to order the investigation by the attorney general. ”My only aim is to get my name cleared. I was falsely accused by the chair of the safety and security committee. There is also a sustained leakage channel which I felt had to be investigated.”
Kotze added the investigation was triggered by documents found in the possession of journalist Derek Fleming, who was arrested last year under the Protection of Information Act. These documents included telephone logs, sensitive internal memos and a few harmless missives.
The internal affairs investigation is the latest volley in a long battle at Wachthuis. Kotze was reportedly the target of an investigation by the late assistant commissioner, Leonard Radu, who was checking whether he had been leaking stories to chosen journalists at Independent Newspapers and the Afrikaans daily, Beeld.