A hacker has allegedly gained access to suspended National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) head Vusi Pikoli’s computer and is attempting to blackmail him, his attorney said on Friday.
”An individual is claiming to have hacked Mr Pikoli’s system. The hacker is threatening to release Mr Pikoli’s documents to the press, if he is not paid,” Aslam Moosajee of Deneys Reitz said in a terse statement.
Pikoli would not give in to attempts to extort money from him, he said.
Moosajee warned the media against facilitating ”the commission of a crime by engaging with the hacker or any information that he/she offers”.
Moosajee could not be reached for further comment on Friday.
Last week, the presidency reportedly launched an 11th-hour bid to prevent embarrassing confidential information behind Pikoli’s suspension from being made public.
Sources told the Sunday Independent that hours before Pikoli was to release documents detailing what he told President Thabo Mbeki and others about suspended police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi’s alleged corruption, he received a settlement offer from the government.
The offer, which presidency spokesperson Mukoni Ratshitanga was unable to confirm or comment upon, proposed that Mbeki might consider lifting Pikoli’s suspension in exchange for his agreement to resign.
A source told the the paper that it was highly unlikely that Pikoli — who says he was suspended because of his and the Scorpions’ refusal to end their probe into Selebi’s affairs — would accept the ”bizarre” proposal.
In a statement last Friday, Deneys Reitz confirmed that Pikoli would not ”at this stage” make public his submissions to the Ginwala commission.
”Mr Pikoli remains committed to doing so at the appropriate time,” the statement said.
This was ”as a courtesy to government and to allow it to make appropriate representations to Dr Ginwala about in-camera hearings”.
The government’s attorneys contend that making Pikoli’s submission would jeopardise a ruling on in-camera hearings. It had indicated its intention to apply for certain parts of its submission to be held in-camera.
Mbeki suspended Pikoli on September 24 last year and former speaker of the National Assembly Frene Ginwala, was subsequently appointed on September 28 to head the inquiry.
At the time, Mbeki cited a breakdown of the relationship between Pikoli and Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Brigitte Mabandla as the reason for the NPA head’s suspension.
The commission’s terms of reference cover two broad areas — Pikoli’s fitness to hold office and the working relationship between Pikoli and Mabandla.
‘You will stop’
The Mail & Guardian reported on Friday that Mabandla instructed Pikoli in September last year to cease the investigation and possible prosecution of Selebi.
”Until I’m satisfied that it’s in the public interest, you will stop,” Mabandla wrote, according to a source close to the inquiry.
Pikoli refused and wrote back to Mabandla that she might be guilty of obstructing justice. He was suspended by Mbeki four days later.
This letter and other ”similar incidents” demonstrating Mbeki’s efforts to protect Selebi in the face of mounting evidence against him are seen by Pikoli’s backers as potentially causing ”huge embarrassment” to Mbeki and Mabandla if made public at next week’s hearings into Pikoli’s conduct.