Minister of Justice Penuell Maduna says he will convene the ministerial coordinating committee to investigate allegations that National Director of Public Prosecutions chief Bulelani Ngcuka was an apartheid spy.
Briefing the media in Parliament on Thursday, he said in view of the allegations made by City Press newspaper and former transport minister Mac Maharaj, it was important to get to the bottom of the issue.
”I work with him [Ngcuka] and then I hear he is a spy. To listen to my own staff whose name is being bandied about. There is an allegation that has been made, the committee must do its work,” Maduna said.
Ngcuka intends to sue both City Press and Maharaj for defamation.
The newspaper reported the African National Congress in exile investigated Ngcuka in the late 1980s to establish whether he was an apartheid spy.
Maharaj confirmed the allegation during a SABC interview, saying he had seen the intelligence report himself.
Turning to the ongoing saga surrounding allegations of corruption against Deputy President Jacob Zuma, Maduna said he had never been subjected to any political pressure because of this.
Ngcuka announced some weeks ago that Zuma would not face prosecution for anything related to the multimillion-rand arms deal, despite there being prima facie evidence against him. Zuma has accused Ngcuka of finding him guilty without having the necessary evidence.
Maduna said: ”On the contrary, Zuma himself said the investigation must go ahead to clear the air.”
Asked whether a precedent had not been set by the suspension of former welfare minister Abe Williams for corruption, Maduna said it had.
”But there is one major difference between that case and this one. Abe Williams was charged and convicted; the deputy president has not been charged. A decision not to charge was taken. In this instance, what would be the basis to suspend him, besides politics, until the case is resolved?”
Maduna pointed out that when former ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni was charged with corruption he was asked to step down.
”Nobody will be spared from this principle.”
Maduna denied threatening to resign over the affair.
He said had engaged many people, including senior politicians, in robust debate.
”I do not imagine that because I am right and you are a senior I’ll keep quiet. If I did, that would spell the end of democracy. I have never balked at this; not now, not in the future and not in the past. And I never make threats either.”
Questioned on President Thabo Mbeki’s silence on the matter, Maduna said he was acting correctly.
”You would not want the president to break the simple rule of not debating a matter that is in court.”
When faced with the statement that Zuma was in fact not in court, Maduna asked what was expected of Mbeki.
”What do you expect him to say to Zuma? There is nothing to reflect on. He does not have a deputy that has been charged with anything,” he said. — Sapa