Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon on Friday accused the Presidency of ”a glaring double standard” in its treatment of the embattled police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi.
Writing in his weekly newsletter on the DA website, Leon referred to the September 7 2003 allegation that then-National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) director Bulelani Ngcuka had been a police spy during the apartheid era.
The only corroboration of this serious allegation came from a member of the African National Congress (ANC) intelligence unit, Mo Shaik.
This was corroborated on September 8 2003 by Mac Maharaj, a senior member of the ANC and former minister of transport, who confirmed in a radio interview that Ngcuka had indeed been suspected of being a police spy.
”There was no further objective proof offered of this allegation, which in itself was not a criminal offence — although clearly it could have led to the advancement, or prejudicing, of certain rights and interests ‘due to past obligations to the apartheid regime’.
”Like the national commissioner of police, the national director of public prosecutions is appointed by the president.
”He is a critical lynchpin in the criminal justice system, and it is interesting to see just how differently Mbeki responded to allegations made [about] Ngcuka than he has done with Selebi,” Leon said.
Within 10 days of Maharaj’s allegation against Ngcuka (September 19 2003), Mbeki appointed retired appellate judge Joos Hefer as a one-man commission of inquiry.
His brief was to: ”inquire into, make findings, report on and make recommendations” concerning whether or not Ngcuka had worked for the security branch, or any other security service of the pre-1994 government and related matters thereto.
The Hefer Commission reported its findings to the president after an exhaustive investigation. It exonerated Ngcuka of any involvement with the apartheid regime.
This demonstrated ”how selectively the Presidency seems to use judicial commissions”.
Further, when thanking Hefer for his report, Mbeki said he agreed with the judge that ”anything which may discredit either the institution or the office of the national director or the person holding the office, is manifestly of constitutional significance and indubitably of public importance”.
Mbeki had said that ”given the public controversy that had broken out around the spy allegations, I thought it absolutely critical that this matter be dealt with as speedily as possible to enable us to act on the matter without undue delay”.
Leon said the question that Mbeki should now answer is why ”he fully agrees” that anything that might discredit the NPA head was manifestly of constitutional significance, and yet he had failed to speak to the nation about the national police commissioner.
”The second issue which arises is this: the Selebi saga is undoubtedly a matter of ‘public controversy’ … and will surely cause … ‘a lot of damage’,” Leon said.
Why then does Mbeki not apply the same standards to the Selebi allegations?
”In law and fact, and in terms of the national interest, these accusations are even more serious than the allegations made against Mr Ngcuka.
”Finally: why did President Mbeki believe, in respect of the Ngcuka allegation, that ‘the best way to address this requirement would be to appoint a judicial commission of inquiry’, and why does he believe this does not apply in the case of Selebi?”
The president had set the standard and raised the bar in 2003. He should live up to his own commitments in 2006, Leon said. — Sapa