Phillip du Toit, the man behind the city council spy saga involving Cape Town mayor and leader of the opposition, Helen Zille, is a colourful man. Du Toit has worked for the National Intelligence Agency (NIA); has supplied the Scorpions with information; and has been employed on contract by former police commissioner George Fivaz.
After being arrested by the South African Police Service three weeks ago on charges of robbery with aggravated circumstances, possession of stolen property and conspiracy to commit robbery, Du Toit is being held in Goodwood Prison.
He also faces two charges of possessing of large amounts of abalone.
The Cape media revealed this week that he was contracted by the Cape Town city council to conduct surveillance, and that he is an NIA informant. The Scorpions have also confirmed that he informed for them.
Du Toit is said to fear for his life, believing former clients who are major drug dealers and syndicate criminals could try to assassinate him in prison, now that his NIA links are known.
Also being held at Goodwood is crime kingpin Quinton Marinus, alias Mr Big, who hired Du Toit to remove illegally planted surveillance equipment from his girlfriend’s flat some months ago.
Du Toit told a legal representative close to the investigation that he was anxious that this work for the NIA and the Scorpions should not come to light, ‘otherwise he will be a dead manâ€.
It is understood that the police confiscated all his surveillance material when they raided his house in Parklands and arrested him. They are alleged to have found video and other material linking senior provincial politicians to criminal activities.
This week Rasool and the Western Cape ANC demanded Zille’s resignation after it emerged that she had appointed private intelligence operatives, including Du Toit, to spy on controversial city councillor Badih Chaaban.
In May this year DA leaders Theuns Botha, James Selfe and Kent Morkel contacted former Western Cape police commissioner Neil van Heerden, who is employed by George Fivaz and Associates, and ask for Chaaban to be investigated.
This request followed an audit of Chaaban in February, which found that he was ‘raising money from shady characters involved in organised crime†to facilitate floor-crossing to his political party, the New People’s Party, in September.
Van Heerden was asked to place Chaaban under surveillance to determine if he was a threat to the council. Van Heerden, in turn, instructed Du Toit to establish whether Chaaban had underworld links.
On June 12, the city council appointed George Fivaz and Associates to carry out surveillance on Chaaban and produce a ‘threat assessmentâ€.
The report, handed to the city and relayed to the NIA, found that Chaaban is ‘friendly with†and often meets underworld heavyweight Cyril Beka, a bouncer who is said to have close links with alleged Mafia boss Vito Palazzolo. He had also met Yuri Ulianitski, alias Jurie, a Russian and alleged crime boss who was assassinated earlier this year.
Based on the report, two councillors are still under 24-hour protection by George Fivaz and Associates. It is alleged that Chaaban could pose a threat to their lives.
Since Du Toit’s arrest other agents associated with the saga have been arrested, fuelling speculation that he is caught in the crossfire between the Scorpions and their enemies in the police and the NIA.
His NIA handler, only known as ‘Kassieâ€, was summarily fired by the agency a few days later, while the handler of Van Heerden, who has also been supplying the NIA with intelligence, was allegedly fired on Wednesday this week.
And while Du Toit was in custody, two Scorpions agents, Wynand Koekemoer and Deon Veldthuizen, who claimed that Du Toit had been working for them, were also fired. Koekemoer and Veldthuizen are alleged to have obstructed the course of justice in relations to Du Toit.
Van Heerden confirmed to the Mail & Guardian this week that Du Toit was on the NIA’s books.
‘This boy is the best in the business — he is a debugging expert and has been a private investigator for many years. His NIA handler was supposed to have his indemnity in order — it was not done and that’s why Du Toit is now being cut loose,†Van Heerden said, referring to the NIA’s sacking of his handler.
Van Heerden said he had asked his lawyer to institute immediate civil action against the police and the Western Cape Police Commissioner, Mzwandile Petros, ‘for confiscating material at Du Toit’s house, which is the property of George Fivas and Associates and the City of Cape Town, which has nothing to do with the charges Du Toit is facingâ€.
According to a source close to the investigation, Petros was called to Du Toit’s home when he was arrested and personally gave instruction that Du Toit should be locked up in a Khayelitsha police station. He was later transferred to Goodwood.
Du Toit, who is engaged to a Ukranian stripper and has a small child, appeared in the Bellville Magistrate’s Court this week on the robbery and conspiracy charges. He testified that he is out on bail on two other charges, both involving large amounts of abalone found in his possession.
One of his former NIA colleagues claimed he is ‘a victim of the fight currently waging between the Scorpions and the police.
‘Du Toit is being cut loose because the police are under instruction to nail the Scorpions — he is caught in the middle and he is going down because of political interference,†said the agent.
The M&G was told that the instruction to arrest Du Toit came from the ‘highest authority†in the police.
Zille’s trip to wonderland
Cape town mayor Helen Zille has described the spy debacle as the ‘biggest storm in the smallest teacup†and compared it with the topsy-turvy world of Alice in Wonderland.
‘We authorised surveillance — perfectly legitimately in terms of the council’s constitution and the Municipal Systems Act — because the police weren’t doing their job, and now we are under investigation,†Zille said.
She said that instead of focusing attention on controversial councillor Badih Chaaban and his alleged breaches of the council’s code of conduct, particularly alleged threats and bribing of councillors, the police were investigating whether there were irregularities in the council’s contract with private detectives.
Chaaban is alleged to have breached the code while trying to win over councillors to his party, the New People’s Party (NPP), in a bid to break Zille’s ruling coalition and install an ANC-NPP alliance in power.
‘It’s the Glenn Agliotti, Jackie Selebi versus Vusi Pikoli saga all over again. And it’s like Mondli Makhanya versus the health minister. Instead of investigating Selebi, Pikoli gets axed, and instead of determining whether Manto Tshabalala-Msimang is a drunk and thief, the editor of the Sunday Times gets investigated.â€
Zille is to appoint an independent inquiry into whether, as her political opponents allege, ratepayers’ money has been used for work that is in the interests of the DA.
Premier Ebrahim Rasool has also announced an inquiry into the matter. He also wants an investigation into whether the country’s bugging laws were broken during the city council’s investigation of Chaaban.
Western Cape police commissioner Mzwanele Petros confirmed this week that the police had received statements and transcripts from Phillip du Toit the private investigator hired by the council to investigate Chaaban’s alleged illegal activities.
The Mail & Guardian is in possession of two invoices from George Fivaz and Associates — one for R98 629 for surveillance, intelligence, undercover agents and electronic surveillance work carried out between May 21 and June 1 this year, and another for an amount of R54 708, covering the period May 21 to June 16.
Zille said the speaker of the council, Dirk Smith, had informed her that he was ‘required by law to investigate Chaaban’s alleged actionsâ€.
She said the Municipal Systems Act stated that if the speaker ‘is of the opinion that the code of conduct has been breached, he must authorise an investigation of the facts and the circumstances of such an alleged breachâ€. — Pearlie Joubert