Clinton Nassif’s lawyer has refused to confirm ”dramatic new details” about his role in the September 2005 death of his boss, mining magnate Brett Kebble, supposedly contained in a draft affidavit leaked to the media on Wednesday.
Lawyer Marius du Toit said he was aware of the existence of a draft affidavit as he had been contacted about it by a number of journalists. ”I said to all of them, we have not seen the affidavit.”
Kebble died two years ago in a hail of bullets behind the steering wheel of his Mercedes-Benz S600 in Melrose, Johannesburg, while on his way to a dinner engagement.
However, the man accused of killing him, businessman Glenn Agliotti, later told the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court that Kebble’s death was, in fact, an assisted suicide. He claimed that Kebble had first planned to drug his pilot and die in a plane crash, but later opted for a botched car hijacking.
Nassif, Kebble’s former head of security, allegedly ordered the premature removal from police custody of Kebble’s car. He was arrested last year by Scorpions probing contraband networks around Kebble.
Talk Radio 702 news reported on Wednesday that Nassif was applying for a blanket indemnity for his role in the Kebble killing, the shooting of Alan Grey businessman Stephen Mildenhall, drugs charges, tax evasion and fraud.
The details it disclosed were contained in what it claimed was a draft affidavit made in support of Nassif’s application.
Du Toit said Nassif’s legal team could not ”vouch for its correctness”. He had also not discussed it with his client. Publications that published the statement did so ”at their own peril”, said Du Toit.
He would not allow reporters to read him the claims in the draft and said he was not prepared to comment on them. Nassif and his legal team had ”negotiated in good faith” with the state and did not want to jeopardise their relationship with the state.
He did not know who could have leaked the draft affidavit to the media, and said whoever did had done so with ”ulterior motives”.
”From our side, we did not give the document to the media,” he said. This would not have been in his client’s interest, nor would it be for people to analyse.
Du Toit pointed out that publishing a draft affidavit was a ”dangerous thing to do” when it had not even been confirmed by the person who made it. If those who did publish ended up facing lawsuits, it was their own fault.
Asked whether Nassif had sought a blanket amnesty, National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Tlali Tlali would not comment, explaining that doing so could undermine or compromise pending or ongoing investigations.
Regarding the affidavit, Tlali said: ”It would not be proper for us to comment on a document whose origin is not known to us.”
According to Talk Radio 702, as reported in the Star newspaper, forensic investigator Dr David Klatzow said the new claims confirmed information he had gathered.
However, Guy Kebble maintained that his brother had been murdered and that the theories of an assisted suicide were baseless and made no sense. — Sapa