Cops still on Makhanya’s trail

Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya and his deputy managing editor, Jocelyn Maker, can sleep soundly until next week, at least, without the threat of arrest. The public prosecutor has not yet made up his mind whether the case of theft against them should go to court. Until he does, they will not be arrested, the Mail & Guardian has been told.

This comes after reports in the Sunday Times that the two were facing imminent arrest for allegedly stealing the medical records of Minister of Health Manto Tshabalala-Msimang or buying the stolen records from the thief.

National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Tlali Tlali told the M&G that Rodney de Kock, Western Cape provincial public prosecutor, would make a finding on the case next week.

‘The police will not go out and arrest anyone until the decision has been taken.”

The Sunday Times insisted that it did not steal or pay for the records it had in its possession when the first story was published. The newspaper’s story detailed the minister’s behaviour while she was in hospital for a shoulder operation, stating she ordered people to bring her alcohol and continued drinking despite her liver condition. Tshabalala-Msimang had a liver transplant earlier this year.

The police and NPA were at pains this week to deny that the two were facing arrest, saying the case was still being investigated.

The M&G, however, understands that after the clinic laid charges, the police planned to arrest Makhanya and Maker on the basis that the theft was a ‘continuing crime”. This means that any person who receives or buys stolen goods is as guilty as the person who stole them.

Although Makhanya and Maker might not have stolen the files, the fact that they acknowledged their possession was sufficient reason to investigate how they had obtained them and, specifically, whether they had paid for them.

Director JJ Brand, the chief detective in the Western Cape, joined an investigating officer on a trip to New Zealand to interview a former nurse of Medi-Clinic, who might have been involved in the theft. It is said that the person in question is a ‘close relative or daughter” of Maker, but this could not be confirmed.

The police insisted that Brand is not involved directly with the case and is ‘supervising” it. Senior Superintendent Billy Jones was told by Brand not to divulge any details about the identity of the investigating officer.

It is understood the police expected the excursion to New Zealand to provide enough information to enable them to arrest Makhanya and Maker. When the trip did not prove as successful as they had hoped, it was decided to reconsider the arrests. A police source said the arrests were unlikely to go ahead, given the adverse publicity this would cause the police and the country.

Police denied that Makhanya’s phone was tapped. A source in the intelligence community said the police will probably not be able to convince a judge that phone-tapping is necessary in this case.

The Sunday Times reported there had been pressure from senior political figures for operatives to dig up dirt on Makhanya and on journalists involved in stories about Tshabalala-Msimang.

Medi-Clinic said the charge of theft, laid on August 14, was not against any particular individuals or parties.

In a statement, the DA pointed to the resources being devoted to the case and asked if this was justified, given ‘the trivial nature of the dispute between the Sunday Times and Manto Tshabalala-Msimang”.

A government source denied the involvement of high-ranking government leaders, but pointed to the negative effect of the Sunday Times article on the image of South Africa overseas.

‘There are severe consequences. It makes us look like a bunch of baboons to the international community.”

Another source said President Thabo Mbeki must be ‘livid” that controversy over the planned arrest is raging while he is hosting the Brazilian and Indian heads of state.

The Sunday Times remained ‘absolutely” concerned about suggestions that the paper is under surveillance.

Eric van den Burg, lawyer for the Sunday Times, said the paper has been reliably informed that surveillance is happening. ‘I don’t believe the police’s intentions have changed. The investigation is ongoing and the focus of that investigation is the Sunday Times.”