/ 9 July 2008

How Selebi affair rattled Mabandla

Justice and Constitutional Development Minister Brigitte Mabandla allegedly told Scorpions investigators that arresting police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi would ‘shake the foundations of this country”.

Scorpions Gauteng head Gerrie Nel testified on Wednesday morning at the Ginwala commission inquiry about a meeting between the Selebi investigation team and Mabandla in June 2007.

Ginwala is probing whether Vusi Pikoli — the suspended head of the National Directorate of Public Prosecutions [NDPP] — is fit to hold office after a breakdown in relations between him and Mabandla.

Nel told the inquiry about a meeting between the Selebi investigation team and Mabandla in June 2007.

He handed up a copy of Scorpions advocate Andrea Kasiram’s diary where she noted what Mabandla had said in the meeting.

”This is a tragedy. It is difficult for our country. The NDPP [Vusi Pikoli] knows what to do. This will be a huge trauma for the country. The level of casualties will be very high. How do we then deal with the SAPS? We are in a crisis. This will shake the foundations of this country. We must not have a long, drawn-out trial. Let us resolve quickly. The DSO [Scorpions] has made out a strong case that has to be answered to,” Mabandla allegedly told Nel and his team in June last year.

Nel gave evidence on Wednesday about the difficulty the Scorpions are having with getting documents from the police for the Selebi trial.

After President Thabo Mbeki intervened, the Scorpions visited the offices of the police’s crime intelligence unit, but were only shown copies of relevant documents. To use them in Selebi’s trial, they will need the originals or ‘at least copies”, Nel testified.

Wasteland
Pikoli said on Tuesday he didn’t intend turning the country into a ”wasteland” due to a perceived backlash caused by arresting Selebi.

He told the inquiry that he believed one week was enough time for President Thabo Mbeki to deal with any security concerns and was never told after the initial meeting that Mbeki needed more time.

”He could have said on the 22nd or the 23rd of September, ‘Look Vusi, I have really tried to create this but it looks like the week you have given me is unreasonable’. I would have considered it,” Pikoli said.

Pikoli was suspended on September 23 2007, a week after telling Mbeki that he had obtained search and arrest warrants against Selebi. Selebi has made initial court appearances and is to go on trial next April to face corruption and defeating the ends of justice charges.

Pikoli said that the National Prosecuting Authority’s work would not have been compromised if Selebi had been arrested just as ”Joe Soap”, without his police title and as the head of Interpol.

”But we needed to do what we needed to do,” he said, adding that everyone was equal before the law.

He said that in the week before his suspension, the issue was not about prosecutorial independence, because the decision had already been taken to prosecute Selebi.

It was more about not having a crisis or an area of embarrassment for the country.

Mbeki had already hinted at the possibility of angry policemen.

The inquiry is expected to adjourn on Wednesday afternoon until August 1 when both parties will deliver closing arguments.