South African Revenue Service commissioner Pravin Gordhan has been asked to consider becoming South Africa’s next police boss. If he were to agree and be appointed by President Thabo Mbeki, Gordhan could take over the reins from embattled police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi before the end of June.
The state’s case against police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi could be a major casualty of the African National Congress’s drive to shut down the Scorpions. The Mail & Guardian has established that seven of the eight investigators working on the Selebi case have already resigned or are in the process of leaving the unit.
The Erasmus commission is to hear claims that the Western Cape leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA), Theuns Botha, used private investigators hired by the Cape Town council to undermine his rivals in the party. The allegation is that Botha piggybacked on a council-ordered probe to spy on the sex life of fellow DA leader Lennit Max.
Regular runs to Cape Town’s GrandWest casino to cash in table chips helped fund the R9-million floor-crossing campaign of controversial Cape Town councillor Badih Chaaban, the Mail & Guardian can reveal. Former spokesperson of Chaaban’s National People’s Party Juan Duval Uys made a sworn affidavit this week describing visits to the Goodwood casino.
The stalled judicial commission of inquiry into whether the City of Cape Town broke the law when it hired private detectives to investigate its political opponents will continue, Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool has told his advisers and Cape Town mayor Helen Zille.
Clinical psychologist Dr Lou-Marie Kruger says South Africans drink to self-medicate.
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/ 15 February 2008
Uncertainty surround government’s proposals for merging the Scorpions with the police organised crime units — under South African Police Service control. Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula told Parliament on Tuesday: “The Scorpions will be dissolved and the organised crime unit of the police will be phased out and a new amalgamated unit will be created.”
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/ 15 February 2008
DA mayor of Cape Town Helen Zille complained to Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils on Thursday about the alleged illegal bugging of her private home. Zille told the Mail & Guardian she was confident of a link between the alleged surveillance and the probe instituted by Western Cape Premier Ebrahim Rasool into claims that the DA illegally spied on city councillors.
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/ 15 February 2008
Justice department Director General Menzi Simelane has emerged as a key player in the suspension of National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) boss Vusi Pikoli. Pikoli was expected to make his final submission to former speaker of Parliament Frene Ginwala’s commission of inquiry into his fitness to hold office on Friday.
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/ 8 February 2008
Western Cape premier Ebrahim Rasool’s days are numbered. Either the African National Congress’s (ANC) national leadership will give him a lifeline of another 13 months in office or, if the regional ANC leadership has its way, he could be out within the next few weeks.