A statement made to the Scorpions has described Sandton shopping sprees in which murder accused Glenn Agliotti allegedly lavished gifts on police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi.
Both men have previously denied that the commissioner received any gifts from his friend — or even that they went on shopping outings together, as a number of sources have told the Mail & Guardian.
In the statement, Paul Stemmet, who got close to Selebi during his time as an undercover police operative, says he personally witnessed Agliotti buy two suits for Selebi from a shop co-owned by Yusuf Surtee, best known as Nelson Mandela’s tailor.
“I also saw Glenn Agliotti and Jackie Selebi in a shop called Aigna [actually Aigner] in Sandton. The Surtee family owns this shop. Jackie selected two suits on this occasion that I saw Glenn then pay for in cash.”
Stemmet stated that the owner of a nearby coffee-shop, whom he knew, had indicated to him on more than one occasion that Agliotti had “taken Jackie shopping again”.
Stemmet claims he was also present when Agliotti bought clothes for Selebi’s two sons at another Sandton shop, Fubu.
“I personally witnessed the children getting the clothes and Glenn paying in cash for the goods,” Stemmet states. He says Selebi was not present, but his driver, Wessel Jenner, brought them to the shop.
Agliotti had a business association with at least one of the directors of the shop, Adriano Mazzotti.
Selebi has previously denied receiving any gifts from Agliotti, bar a framed T-shirt signed by Arnold Schwarzenegger. This was to commemorate a Special Olympics event in 2001 in Cape Town featuring Schwarzenegger, in which the police, Agliotti and Stemmet — the latter acting as Schwarzenegger’s bodyguard — were involved. The T-shirt is now hanging in police headquarters in Pretoria, in a room leading off Selebi’s office.
Stemmet’s claims support other allegations made to the M&G by sources who asked not to be identified.
One source said he had seen Selebi and a man he now thinks was Agliotti shopping together at Sandton’s exclusive Louis Vuitton shop, where a belt can cost R3 000.
“I remember I saw him in the shop around the time of his appointment at Interpol,” said the source. “I remember thinking: why doesn’t he buy the stuff in Paris when he goes for Interpol meetings?” Selebi was elected Interpol president in late 2004.
A manager at Louis Vuitton told the M&G she did not recall seeing Selebi in the shop and certainly not with Agliotti, whom she knew well as a customer. She said Agliotti was one of the shop’s best clients, ranking alongside mining magnate Patrice Motsepe.
Two sources, one of them sympathetic to Agliotti, have told the M&G that Agliotti gave the commissioner gifts of clothing bought on overseas trips or from stores in Sandton City, particularly those associated with Surtee, such as Aigner, Hugo Boss and Grays.
One said these gifts were simply gestures of affection from a generous man, adding that he had even given Selebi’s driver, Jenner, a pair of running shoes.
When the M&G approached staff at the interleading Aigner and Grays this week, one of Surtee’s brothers confirmed Agliotti was a client and that Selebi had an account there.
He denied Agliotti had ever bought for anything for Selebi, saying the commissioner had paid for himself.