The Scorpions are closing in on Jackie Selebi. Indications are that the elite unit’s investigation of the police National Commissioner, first highlighted by the Mail & Guardian a year ago, is coming to a head.
Well-placed sources, including a potential witness, an interlocutor with another witness and an investigator not with the Scorpions, but au fait with aspects of their investigation, say they have received indications that charges may be levelled against Selebi soon.
The Scorpions, formally the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), launched two investigations after mining magnate Brett Kebble was killed in September 2006: project ‘Empire Kâ€, focusing on the massive frauds Kebble and his associates had perpetrated on the JCI group of companies, and project ‘Bad Guysâ€, looking at Kebble’s murder and the crime network with which he had associated.
The M&G first showed in May last year, under the headline ‘Selebi’s shady Kebble linksâ€, why Bad Guys was such an explosive investigation — the article detailed Selebi’s links to key figures in the same criminal network.
Prominent among these figures was Glenn Agliotti, whom the commissioner brazenly insisted was ‘my friend, finish and klaarâ€.
Agliotti, who has since been named as ‘the Landlord†in an international narcotics syndicate, was arrested for Kebble’s murder last November. All indications are that Agliotti has become a cooperative witness and has given the Scorpions full details of the murder, the crime network and his relationship with Selebi.
Among allegations already reported — and denied by Selebi — is that Agliotti and Kebble’s former security consultant, Clinton Nassif, had made untoward payments to the commissioner. Nassif was another member of the network identified in the original M&G article. He too, is implicated in Kebble’s murder.
The Scorpions and their parent organisation, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), have come close to admitting, in their actions if not in words, that Selebi was a key suspect in Bad Guys. In November, the NPA tried unsuccessfully to interdict the M&G from publishing a witness affidavit which implicated Selebi further, claiming it would undermine the investigation.
Scorpions head Leonard McCarthey said, in an affidavit submitted to court at the time, that this was ‘one of the most extensive, complex and sensitive investigations that the DSO has ever undertakenâ€.
He stated: ‘Some of the allegations that are being investigated include allegations of targeted corruption of senior law enforcement personnel; laundering of large amounts of local and foreign currency — smuggling of drugs — the large-scale [movement of] contraband and counterfeit goods — and the assassination of individuals —â€
In December, the M&G reported that the Scorpions had quizzed Selebi.
A key feature of the investigation has been the Scorpions’ gamble in giving indemnity to senior members of the syndicate in order to reach even higher.
Nassif, as well as the three hitmen in the Kebble murder, were given ‘Section 204†status, meaning they are indemnified if they testify truthfully about their roles in the murder. This led to Agliotti’s arrest.
Now Agliotti too is said to have struck a deal that will not see him serve a custodial sentence at all, even though he admitted during his bail hearing to a role in what he called Kebble’s ‘assisted suicideâ€. It is hard to escape the conclusion that Selebi is the ultimate target in a high-stakes gamble to scale the prosecutorial ladder to the very top, one step at a time.
In the meantime, further witnesses have been recruited. Paul Stemmet, whose Palto unit freelanced for the police under Selebi’s protection while acting in cahoots with Agliotti and others, made at least two statements. It was one of these that the NPA tried to interdict the M&G from using.
Stephen Sander, the former operations director in Nassif’s Central National Security Group, is also said to have struck a deal with the Scorpions. Early allegations held that Sander had ‘couriered†cash envelopes to Selebi.
Now, it seems, the Scorpions are preparing to act. Among the indications:
- A person regarded as a potential witness told the M&G an investigator had indicated the Agliotti case would come to a head by mid-May;
- Another source, who is in contact with another person the Scorpions are keen to talk to, said he had been told he would ‘see their bona fides within a weekâ€.
- Another source who is close to the investigation said he was a told a warrant for Selebi’s arrest was being prepared.
NPA spokesperson Panyaza Lesufi, asked whether the recent questioning of witnesses indicated that investigators had shifted their focus beyond the Kebble assassination to possible links between Selebi and other smuggling syndicates and said it ‘would be difficult to comment on an ongoing investigationâ€.
‘There is nothing more we can place in the public domain,†he said.
Selebi declined to comment.
The stolen cars
Selebi has a rather unfortunate history of association with stolen cars.
As early as 1998, when he had just been appointed director general of foreign affairs, Selebi was reportedly shocked to discover that he owned a stolen BMW.
Selebi told police he had bought the car in 1994 from a Soweto man who repaired and re-built motorcars, but he welcomed their investigation.
As late as last year, there was a row about his use of a stolen Toyota Landcruiser impounded by police, which his spokesperson said was perfectly legal.
Now, it is alleged, at the time he was taking over leadership of the police in late 1999, he tried to intervene to have another stolen car returned — this time a vehicle belonging to Rehan Syed, an associate of Selebi’s friend Imran Ismail.
News reports in 2000 said police had seized three luxury Mercedes vehicles imported by Syed from Dubai. It was claimed these vehicles were stolen in the United Kingdom.
One, a Mercedes-Benz 500SL sports car, had reportedly just dropped boxing champion Evander Holyfield at his hotel after a visit in July 1997 to former president Nelson Mandela’s Houghton home when police seized the vehicle.
The police’s now disbanded anti-corruption unit became involved in probing Syed’s alleged racket when it discovered police involvement in the issuing of false clearance certificates for stolen cars.
According to a source close to the anti-corruption unit, Selebi attempted to intervene on behalf of Syed in late 1999 or early 2000, shortly after his appointment as commissioner-designate.
It is claimed that he told the unit he had spoken to Syed, who had assured him that the car was imported legally. Selebi allegedly asked that the car be returned.
It is understood that the unit demurred, saying they should wait for information coming from Mercedes-Benz in Germany.
Later, it is alleged, Selebi arranged for the case to be transferred to the police vehicle theft unit, which made arrangements to return the car.
At least one source who knows Ismail told the Mail & Guardian that he had seen Selebi and Ismail together in Ismail’s 500SL, which was one of the allegedly stolen cars brought into the country by Syed.
Selebi has dismissed the claims as rubbish, but it is known that Syed, at the time, traded on a claimed friendship with senior ANC figures, including, specifically, Selebi.
Syed, a Pakistani, who claimed to be a special representative of several governments, had his South African citizenship revoked in 2001 and was forced to leave the country.
In a later court case, the head of the police organised crime division, Tallie Taljaard, testified that investigations into Syed had taken place since 1998, including allegations that he was part of a stolen vehicle syndicate and was involved in the distribution of drugs. Taljaard testified that the plaintiff had been deported from Zimbabwe because of drug trafficking and money-laundering offences before he arrived in South Africa.