The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is ready to charge police National Commissioner and Interpol chief Jackie Selebi, it said in court papers at the Pretoria High Court on Friday. The NPA said it would charge Selebi with corruption and defeating the course of justice.
It said the indictment against Selebi would be served on him depending on the outcome of his application, later on Friday, to stop the NPA from prosecuting him.
In an answering affidavit to Selebi’s application to stop the NPA from charging him, acting national director of public prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe said the NPA was not planning to arrest Selebi.
”I have undertaken that if he is to be charged, he will not be arrested and an arrangement will be reached with his attorney for a date on which he has to appear in court,” Mpshe said in the papers.
Mpshe said the charges relate to Selebi’s relationship with murder accused Glen Agliotti and payments by Agliotti of more than R1,2-million to Selebi in 2004 and 2005.
The charges are based on Selebi turning a blind eye to Agliotti’s involvement in transporting a large quantity of Mandrax, interventions Selebi made on behalf of Agliotti and confidential intelligence reports released from British authorities relating to drug-trafficking activities of Agliotti.
The NPA said Selebi tipped Agliotti off that he had been identified in the course of the Brett Kebble murder investigation.
Spokesperson for Selebi’s office Director Sally de Beer said she would not comment on the court proceedings. ”It is a matter before the court; the police cannot comment on it. Court proceeding are still in process,” she said.
United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa said the NPA’s decision to charge Selebi vindicated suspended NPA head Vusi Pikoli. ”This is egg on the face of the government, because they intervened in a decision by an independent institution … and they messed up the whole thing,” he said.
”I hope they’ve learned a lesson. And now I don’t see any reason why they can’t reinstate Pikoli and stop that nonsense of Ginwala,” he said.
He was referring to the inquiry ordered by President Thabo Mbeki and headed by former parliamentary speaker Frene Ginwala into Pikoli’s fitness to hold office. Pikoli was suspended last year after it emerged that the NPA had obtained a warrant for Selebi’s arrest.
The arrest, Holomisa said, had been delayed by the intervention of Mbeki and Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Brigitte Mabandla, who complained Pikoli did not consult her before getting the warrant.
”Right from the word go Pikoli was correct: there was no need to ask for permission,” Holomisa said.
Objection
On Friday, the Mail & Guardian has strongly objected to allegations made about it in an affidavit by Selebi supporting his court application to stop the NPA from prosecuting him.
Selebi brought the application in his personal capacity. In his founding affidavit, he argues that the Scorpions’ case against him is nothing more than a scandalous plot. The Scorpions were fighting for their survival and had launched a media campaign against him in a bid to discredit him, he claims.
M&G editor Ferial Haffajee and reporters Nic Dawes, Stefaans Brümmer, Sam Sole and Adriaan Basson said on Friday afternoon that Selebi made a number of claims regarding the newspaper in his affidavit.
”These claims are untrue,” they said. ”Most significantly, Commissioner Selebi claims: ‘I have received information that members of DSO [Directorate of Special Operations] even went on a so-called ‘bosberaad’ with members of the media, more in particular members from the Mail & Guardian, to discuss and structure this campaign against me.”’
The M&G said: ”This is absolutely untrue and an allegation for which the commissioner provides not a shred of evidence. The allegations are deeply damaging to our credibility. We would expect the national commissioner to have a better understanding of the sanctity of a sworn statement.”
In fact, the M&G has not enjoyed a close relationship with the Scorpions or with the National Prosecuting Authority. On at least two occasions, representatives of both agencies have attempted to quash publication of allegations related to their investigation of Selebi.
”Once they visited our offices threatening to gag us through an interdict and on another occasion they approached the court for an interdict — in which they failed. This is hardly evidence of a joint and strategic campaign,” said the M&G.
In his affidavit, Selebi also claims: ”When evaluating the reports in the media, in particular the Mail & Guardian, the only logic conclusion is that the media was provided with information from inside sources within the NPA and DSO.”
”This is a serious distortion. Since the second half of 2005, when the M&G started investigating the relationship between Selebi and Glenn Agliotti, the M&G has relied on a wide array of sources, on and off the record,” said the newspaper.
The M&G exposed the relationship between Selebi and Agliotti in the article ”Selebi’s shady Kebble links” (May 26 2006). Since then the newspaper has tended to lead media coverage on the Selebi matter.
”Commissioner Selebi appears to misunderstand that in a democracy the media is duty-bound to expose serious allegations of wrongdoing in high places. The public interest demands no less. He also appears to underestimate the resourcefulness of media like the M&G in getting access to information by means other than spoon-feeding,” the newspaper said.
Public confidence
Meanwhile, the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) said on Friday that the spat between the NPA and the police was undermining public confidence in the agencies crucial to fighting crime.
The SAHRC said it was concerned about the court action instituted by Selebi against the NPA, and about media reports on Selebi’s statements in court on Friday that said that all NPA information pertaining to his suggested prosecution be subject to scrutiny by Cabinet.
”These developments in our view undermine public confidence in the agencies that are crucial in fighting crime and protection of the right of all people in South Africa to be free from crime,” the commission said.
It was also concerned about the police’s conduct in the arrest of Scorpions prosecutor Gerrie Nel on Wednesday and the NPA’s response to this.
The SAHRC said the developments confirmed the findings of the Crime and Human Rights conference — organised by the commission in March last year — which revealed that the lack of proper coordination in the criminal justice system was a ”major weakness and a threat to effective law enforcement”.
The conference report recommendation was that the Presidency should ensure better and proper coordination of the various agencies in the criminal justice system.
The SAHRC said that in light of the high crime levels in the country and a need for a more effective criminal justice system, it called on leadership in the government to address the deteriorating relationship between the police and the NPA.
”The commission calls on the police and NPA to act in accordance with our constitutional imperatives and values, and to use their power in the interest of the people,” it said. — Sapa