The Hefer saga may be over, but Mo Shaik faces a charge brought by a top former spy that he made up evidence to suit his thesis that National Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka was an apartheid spy.
Shaik’s accuser, Maritz Spaarwater, was one of the most senior officials in the old National Intelligence Service (NIS) and its post-apartheid successor, the National Intelligence Agency. In 2002 he left retirement to join Ngcuka’s National Prosecuting Authority.
Spaarwater this week confirmed he had brought criminal defamation and perjury charges against Shaik for utterances Shaik had made about him at the Hefer commission and allegedly to the media. He said he was also pursuing a civil claim for damages.
Police in Bloemfontein, where the Hefer commission sat, confirmed an investigation and said a charge against Shaik of “making a false declaration” had been forwarded this week to Free State prosecuting authorities for a decision whether to prosecute.
The gist of Spaarwater’s complaint is that Shaik had allegedly presented the fact of Spaarwater’s employment first with NIS and later with Ngcuka’s prosecuting authority as “evidence” that Ngcuka was improperly connected to the apartheid security establishment.
In the perjury charge Spaarwater complains about Shaik’s testimony at the commission: he testified that Spaarwater had been connected to the “handlers” of Michael Pace, a NIS agent in Ngcuka’s proximity in the early 1980s.
According to a transcript of the commission proceedings, Shaik continued: “May I inform you where Mr Maritz Spaarwater is now sir? I think he is a contract employee of the National Prosecuting Authority.”
In a statement to police in the possession of the M&G, Spaarwater denies he had anything to do with Pace or Pace’s relationship with NIS. “I am of the opinion that by his foregoing utterances Mr Shaik intended by direct innuendo to associate Mr Ngcuka with me in an effort to substantiate his and Mr Mac Maharaj’s allegation that Mr Ngcuka, because of his alleged former spying activities, was still beholden to that regime.”
Spaarwater’s second charge, the unusual one of criminal defamation — but which he says he is also pursuing in civil court — stems from Shaik’s alleged comments to Rapport newspaper after the dramatic arrest in November of former African National Congress spy Bheki Jacobs. Jacobs was arrested after Shaik had forwarded a document, allegedly authored by Jacobs, to police and personally alerted police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi to it.
The document made claims of a plot against President Thabo Mbeki.
Police said they were investigating Jacobs for “conspiring” against Mbeki, but soon dropped the charge. The arguably exaggerated action against Jacobs has been interpreted as a case of police having suspected that Ngcuka’s “camp” was somehow behind the document and that going for him would ultimately weaken Ngcuka.
It is no secret that Selebi and Ngcuka do not see eye to eye.
Soon after Jacob’s arrest, Shaik told the Hefer commission that more arrests would follow. And then he was cited in Rapport as saying that Spaarwater would be arrested “regarding the document”.
In his complaint to police Spaarwater denied any involvement with the document, saying Shaik’s alleged statement was another attempt to get at Ngcuka by association. In fact, he said, he had never “met or spoken to” Ngcuka, his ultimate boss.
Shaik’s brother and attorney, Yunus Shaik, this week said Shaik rejected the charges and denied having told Rapport that Spaarwater would be arrested. He said Shaik had written to Rapport distancing himself from the comment. He also said the charge of perjury had earlier been referred to Hefer commission evidence leader Kessie Naidu, but had been rejected.
One intriguing aspect is an allegation that Selebi took a special interest in the case.
Investigating officer Captain AJ Daniels this week told the M&G that his provincial commissioner had been contacted by Selebi during the course of the investigation. “He reached me through his detective heads.” Daniels did not give details, but said he had experienced no pressure.
But Selebi’s spokesperson Selby Bokaba said: “The national commissioner never phoned the provincial commissioner about the Shaik matter … He has no special interest in the matter and has never suggested or acted in a manner that sought to influence any investigation to be handled in a particular way.”
Additional reporting by Sam Sole