A crucial official inquiry into the activities of Palto, the controversial reservist unit that allegedly had direct access to police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi, could be stymied by the disappearance of important court records.
Palto was set up in late 1999 by Paul Stemmet, a bodyguard, karate expert and captain in the police reserve.
After Selebi took over as commissioner in 2000, the unit quickly rose to prominence, conducting undercover operations on behalf of the police. Several sources have told the Mail & Guardian that Stemmet had direct access to Selebi.
Palto members, often balaclava-clad and flashing a blue police lamp, conducted cowboy-style raids for contraband goods.
But, evidence uncovered in the Scorpions investigation of Glenn Agliotti, who worked with Stemmet, suggests that investigators believe the Palto operation became a cover for contraband syndicates.
Significant new light was expected to be thrown on the activities of Palto, which reported directly to senior crime intelligence officials at police headquarters, at an inquest that was scheduled to resume this week.
At the centre of the Benoni inquest is the April 2002 killing of Daveyton taxi boss Banile Zondo during a raid involving police officers and Palto members.
Police claim to have raided Zondo’s home acting on a tip-off by an unlisted informer that Zondo was harbouring hitmen and kept a stockpile of illegal guns that were used to fuel running taxi wars.
The inquest seeks to establish whether police murdered Zondo instead of effecting an arrest, or acted in self-defence when they shot him dead at his home on April 24 2002.
Now it has emerged that the transcript of the inquest has disappeared, meaning a delay or even a restart of the hearing.
The disappearance of the tapes comes at a crucial time in the three-year inquest.
The next witness due to take the stand was a police officer who was on the scene of the Zondo killing and who was expected to give insight into Palto’s activities. He was expected also to shed light on the links between police at senior levels and Palto.
State prosecutor Zaais van Zyl SC said the inquest could not continue this week because the transcripts of past testimony had gone missing.
‘The tapes were given to the transcribers, who now say they may have lost them or they cannot find them.
‘The magistrate indicated that it would be difficult to reconstruct the records and that it might even be that the inquest will have to start afresh,†Van Zyl explained.
He said that on June 1 the state attorney will report to the court on whether the tapes had been found and will set up a date for the next session of the inquest.
‘I express my disappointment that this matter cannot be finalised, especially in view of the fact that the family has been coming to court and patiently waiting for justice in this matter,†Van Zyl said.
The missing evidence includes testimony of six witnesses.
It also became apparent this week that the Scorpions investigators probing the activities of Agliotti, the death of mining magnate Brett Kebble and the role of Agliotti in this killing, together with Selebi’s alleged links with the underworld, have an interest in Palto’s operations.
Present at the failed Benoni inquest were investigators led by Scorpions Gauteng boss Gerrie Nel and Andrew Leask, who leads the team of investigators probing the killing of mining magnate Brett Kebble and Agliotti’s alleged role in drug smuggling operations.