Former intelligence director general Billy Masetlha, charged with withholding information from Inspector General of Intelligence Zolile Ngcakani, went out of his way to provide such information, the Hatfield Community Court heard on Thursday.
Masetlha has implicated Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils in a ”counter-revolution” meant to destroy the African National Congress. Party secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe had said that certain things happening in the party bordered on ”counter-revolution”, Masetlha testified in court on Wednesday.
This emerged at a meeting called by Motlanthe and attended by Masetlha and police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi the day after ANC headquarters Luthuli House was gutted by fire on August 29 2005.
Motlanthe produced four pieces of paper, which Masetlha said he found ”disturbing”. The papers, which included emails, were given to Masetlha to follow up and verify. The police later said they could not look into them due to ”lack of capacity”. ”From our side, we continued to look into it [the four pieces of paper],” he said.
As Masetlha was investigating, he came across information implicating ”certain people” in the so-called hoax email saga. He was reluctant to provide the information to Kasrils.
Due to the sensitivity of the matter, all information was then channelled to Masetlha. He compiled a top-secret report for President Thabo Mbeki, but couldn’t give the report to Kasrils as the minister was implicated.
The report was delivered by Masetlha to Mbeki at Luthuli House. ”I was content that I’d done the report; in the back of my mind, it was my exit report,” Masetlha told the court.
Claims of criminality
He said that on October 17 2005 Kasrils called him and told him about certain findings by Ngcakani that bordered on criminality on his part — the surveillance of businessman Saki Macozoma, which was authorised within the NIA on the basis of his supposed links with foreign intelligence agencies.
On the same day, Masetlha’s deputy Gibson Njenje was suspended with the threat of dismissal. He intended taking the ministry to court to challenge dismissal.
On October 19, Masetlha met Mbeki. He stressed that only the president had the authority to fire him. Mbeki then asked Masetlha to persuade Njenje not to go ahead with the court proceedings, which Masetlha successfully did.
The next day Masetlha met Mbeki, Kasrils and Ngcakani. Kasrils then produced a letter in which he notified Masetlha of his suspension.
”The report on the findings of the [inspector general] was fundamentally flawed and malicious as [the inspector general] had come to certain conclusions with no facts,” said Masetlha.
Now Masetlha is charged in terms of the Intelligence Oversight Act with withholding information from Ngcakani regarding the surveillance of Macozoma.
Prior to the investigation Masetlha and Kasrils had not seen eye to eye due to a report Masetlha had submitted to the Khampepe commission, in which he said the Scorpions should be merged with the police force. This was because the Scorpions were seen as ”a law unto themselves” and had no accountability. Masetlha said the minister was uncomfortable with the submission and condemned it.
Information gathering
Giving his testimony on Thursday, Masetlha said he had proposed that he have access to the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) building without supervision and interference so he could gather the necessary information needed by Ngcakani.
”The report I required was not in my position, so I needed the assistance of three people who I knew had access to that particular report I needed,” he said.
The report was the one he gave to Mbeki at Luthuli House. Mbeki later said the report had been ”dispensed” with.
The need for the report was because Ngcakani needed the information detailed in it. ”I felt I could reproduce the report as I had the notes and drafts in a safe in my office … I did not want to submit something fabricated as I wanted to give authenticity to the report,” he said.
Aside from wanting access to the NIA building, Masetlha also wanted his lawyers present at the interview with the inspector general and sent letters (through his lawyers) saying he wanted to be interviewed so he could tell his side of whatever story Ngcakani was investigating.
In a letter dated November 26 2005, Masetlha made it clear to the inspector general that he had nothing to hide and that he was entitled to know the terms of reference of the inquiry into him, and what was said in that report which prompted Kasrils to say that Masetlha was ”involved in an unlawful, unauthorised and ‘unprocedural’ operation”.
He said he received no response from the inspector general, so he applied to the high court for an urgent application on the matter. ”Before we could proceed with the application, the [inspector general] withdrew their request for an interview,” Masetlha said.
‘I am broke’
The former spy boss has applied for funding assistance from the government as he was acting or working within the law when he was fired. ”I have run out of money … I am broke as it is. I’ve had to make borrowings to cover the costs of my attorneys and at the moment am struggling to make ends meet,” he said.
He said he had not broken any laws, and that the state has a record of funding people who had committed heinous crimes. An application to fund Masetlha has been made to the Justice and Constitutional Development Ministry, but he has not received a reply.
Earlier in the day, the court had to adjourn for almost an hour after Masetlha broke down in tears in the witness box. He said he felt betrayed after being suspended as he did not know what he had done and was denied access to a report that concluded an investigation on him.
”I felt betrayed because I strongly believe I served with honour and integrity throughout my years … I couldn’t understand why they could do such a thing,” he said, adding that he felt that a great injustice had been done on him.
The state is to continue with its cross-examination on Friday. — Sapa