After months of speculation that former National Intelligence Agency (NIA) chief Billy Masetlha would be charged for his role in the alleged fabrication of ”hoax” e-mails, Masetlha was this week only charged with failing to cooperate with investigations by the Inspector General of Intelligence.
In March, Inspector General Zolile Ngcakani published a report, which found that a secret NIA project, known as Project Avani and launched by Masetlha, amounted to an abuse of state of resources and threatened to undermine political party freedoms protected by the Constitution.
The report found that Project Avani has been established without informing the intelligence minister. It said the hoax e-mail scandal had created a climate of conspiracy at the NIA.
The report also said Masetlha had contravened regulations by irregularly outsourcing the gathering of the e-mail information. It said the e-mails were then used to direct NIA resources against alleged conspirators in an unprecedented monitoring campaign.
It said Masetlha kept tight control of access to the e-mails and resisted attempts to question their authenticity.
This week Masetlha has been charged with unlawfully withholding information from Ngcakani and refusing to provide responses to the inspector general under the Intelligence Services Oversight Act of 1994.
Masetlha is expected to argue that he never refused to cooperate with Ngcakani. The Mail & Guardian reported in February that Masetlha had indicated his willingness to co-operate with the investigation provided his lawyer would be present. He also requested the terms of reference for the investigation as well as the inspector general’s interim report on the surveillance of Saki Macozoma, which led to his suspension.
In March national Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi promised arrests, warning that the e-mails had been mischief of the highest order and threatened the security of the state.
Parliament’s standing committee on intelligence has subsequently questioned the inspector general’s report. Independent Newspapers reported that the committee had concerns regarding the procedures adopted by Ngcakani in his investigation. The committee said the independence of the inspector general’s investigation could have been compromised by the fact that Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils’ lawyer was initially on the investigating task team. However, it recommended that Ngcakani continue with the investigation.
Masetlha has not been arrested but has been summonsed to appear in court in Pretoria next month. Masetlha is also challenging his suspension and dismissal in a separate court case, which is due to sit on September 29.
Mbeki terminated Masetlha’s contract in March, saying that there was a breakdown of trust between the two. Masetlha wants Mbeki to explain what he means by this and has argued in his founding affidavit that the decision to fire him was the result of political pressures. He also accuses Mbeki of taking sides in internal ANC battles.
Masetlha has on several occasions stood his ground and refused to backtrack on his civil challenge. It has emerged in his court papers that he rejected the government’s R1-million offer to settle. Masetlha’s lawyer Imraan Haffegee also said Mbeki’s office had offered to pay his legal costs in exchange for him dropping the suspension application.