Former spy boss Billy Masetlha had no political ambitions and would have retired as National Intelligence Agency director general had he not been fired, the Hatfield Community Court heard on Friday.
Masetlha is charged with contravening the Intelligence Services Oversight Act by allegedly withholding information from Inspector General of Intelligence Zolile Ngcakani. He has denied guilt and is adamant that Ngcakani was furnished with all the information needed.
With the defence and state presenting their closing arguments to the court on Friday, Masetlha’s attorney, Neil Tuchten, argued that a man of Masetlha’s stature and high reputation would not lie.
This followed state prosecutor Matric Luphondo’s submission that Masetlha’s version of events was so improbable that it bordered on science fiction. He said Masetlha could not say he already gave enough information as it was not for him to decide which information was deemed necessary.
He added that there was no proof to suggest that Minister of intelligence Ronnie Kasrils was involved in an unlawful scheme to get Masetlha out of office and damage his public reputation, as he had testified.
Luphondo also questioned why some information only became available during court proceedings, such as the report that Masetlha said he had sent to Ngcakani on September 30 2005.
The inspector general’s office acknowledged receipt of this, even though Ngcakani testified that he was confident he had not seen the report.
Tuchten said the culture in the security world was to operate on a need-to-know basis, hence the reason why some evidence only came up later in court.
He added his client had gone through mental turmoil in deciding what to do when he received intelligence information implicating Kasrils. ”It would have been easy for a lesser man, but he [Masetlha] struggled with his conscience and professional standards and decided that he was going to compile a report for the president’s eyes only.”
This was not a science-fiction tale. It happened; it was fact, he said.
Tuchten said the misunderstanding, which he described as an ”underwater volcano erupting like a tsunami”, came when Ngcakani wanted information that Masetlha did not have.
A letter dated October 11 from Ngcakani to Masetlha requested that Masetlha provide intelligence information, and put it on record that businessman Saki Macozoma and Robert Fishot, a French intelligence operative, knew each other and had met, as he had said during an interview.
Ngcakani had said that Macozoma was being followed because Masetlha suspected that Macozoma had links and was consciously working with foreign intelligence, Tuchten said.
Masetlha only knew that they had met, but had no further information.
Tuchten said the failure of minds to meet caused the misunderstanding. ”If the intelligence information does not exist, he cannot commit a crime by not providing it,” he said.
Masetlha will know on November 28 whether he will be found guilty of contravening the Act. If found guilty, he will face imprisonment not exceeding five years, or a fine. — Sapa