An MP of the ruling Zimbabwean Zanu-PF party spied for a ”South African agent” and was paid $10 000 (about R60 000) a month to provide political and economic information, media reported on Thursday.
This emerged when a court case against Phillip Chiyangwa was moved from the Harare’s Magistrate’s Court to the High Court on Thursday and was briefly opened to the public.
Chiyangwa, a provincial chairperson of Zanu-PF, was arrested on December 15 with four others on allegations of spying.
The news reports could sour relations between Zimbabwe and South Africa less than three months before Zimbabweans go to the polls in a general election.
The South African ministry for intelligence services responded to the media reports on Friday.
Ministry spokesperson Sandy Africa said in a statement: ”Various media reports suggested that South Africa has been implicated in developments which have seen several top Zimbabwean government officials facing charges of spying for foreign governments.
”To the best of our knowledge, the information reflected in the earlier media reports has not provided any basis for concluding that South Africa was involved in illegally soliciting information about Zimbabwe.”
Africa added: ”In any event, as a matter of course, the intelligence services do not comment on operational matters.”
For these reasons the ministry ”declines to comment on the matter”.
”We can state, however, that we have very positive relations with the intelligence services of Zimbabwe, and that we are in touch with them at all times,” Africa said.
No changing of pleas
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s courts have refused to allow three of Chiyangwa’s co-accused to change their pleas from guilty to not guilty.
AFP reported on Friday that another diplomat accused of involvement in the alleged spy ring, Erasmus Moyo, disappeared from his post at Zimbabwe’s embassy in Switzerland after Chiyangwa’s arrest.
It said the five detained have been charged under the Official Secrets Act and face up to 20 years in jail if convicted.
Earlier this month, state media reported that top politicians and government officials, including two Cabinet ministers, were suspected of having divulged the contents of confidential government and party files to ”hostile intelligence agencies”, including the CIA and Britain’s MI5.
Zimbabwe has repeatedly accused Britain and the United States of supporting Mugabe’s opponents in a bid to replace the increasingly autocratic leader — allegations both countries deny.
South Africa has adopted a policy of ”quiet diplomacy” toward its neighbour despite international calls to take a tougher stand against political and human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.
The two countries share strategic information, but it has been suggested in local media that some South African officials may have been dissatisfied with the intelligence they received from Harare, AFP said. — Sapa