[ad_1]
By Mzilikazi Wa Afrika, Manyane Manyane, Aakash Bramdeo 
2h ago
Johannesburg – Following revelations of how funds from the State Security Agency (SSA) were abused for political purposes, a lawyer representing some of those implicated says he was misled by the Zondo Commission into believing his clients would not be involved while carefully selecting witnesses to challenge their integrity.
Rapolano Kgoroeadira of Kgoroeadira Mudau Inc, confirmed on Saturday that he had written a letter to the Zondo Commission demanding an explanation for the fact that Supreme Court Vice President Raymond Zondo did not inform his clients that they were to be named and embarrassed, as required the Commissions Law.
“My clients did not even receive the notification of the Commission’s rule 3.3 nor did they send fragments of the affidavits of persons implicating them. The impression we get is that people are busy pushing a certain narrative and my clients don’t have the opportunity to dispel it, ”said Kgoroeadira.
He said that he sent the letter to the Commission complaining about this unprofessional conduct and that it was read from the Commission’s records. He also confirmed that he had written several letters to the SSA Minister Ayanda Dlodlo, requesting the declassification of specific documents and reports that would help some of his clients finalize their presentation to hand over to the commission, but all to no avail.
Kgoroeadira represents former Minister Bongani Bongo, CEO Arthur Fraser, Chief of Staff Jabulani Maduma, Intelligence Officer Graham Engel, Prince Makhwathana, Marthie Wallace, Molleen Mnana and Roxane Human, who were implicated in various acts of bad behavior.
In their presentation, the attorneys said they asked SSA Acting Director General Loyiso Jafta and the commission to invite 18 of the SSA officials, including the audit and risk committee, to share their testimony, as it is believed that some of the witnesses have been carefully selected and coordinated to create a false impression against their clients.
“Our clients believe that the testimony of individuals will be useful in uncovering corruption, fraud, theft, abuse of power, and usurpation of the commission’s mandate by some of the witnesses who have been carefully selected and coordinated to create a false impression. against our clients while protecting others from scrutiny and requesting that they be subpoenaed, ”the letter reads.
Witnesses, including former minister Sydney Mufumadi and Jafta appeared before the commission this week.
“As stated above, our clients are more than willing to help the Commission and, in doing so, clean up their unfairly tainted names and reputations. To do this, they intend to present their statements to the commission and cross-examine these people, ”said the law firm.
The law firm also asked Jafta to declassify and exploit some documents that may implicate some of the witnesses.
“In order for our clients to be able to prepare and present their returns, we are instructed to request, as we do hereby, the declassification and supply to them, the following information and / or intelligence products.”
SSA spokesperson Mava Scott confirmed that Jafta received the letter, while Jafta did not respond to questions sent to him.
“He is receiving the necessary attention. But at this stage, we cannot predict the outcome of that investigation on the issues raised in the letter. “
Jafta, this week dropped a bomb on the commission when it revealed that the agency had been abused for years by private and political interests.
It also revealed that rand 125 million was not accounted for during fiscal year 2017-2018 and rand 9 billion could not be found in fixed assets. In his testimony Tuesday, Jafta said that some “illegal operations” were “carried out from the accountant’s office,” which was Fraser at the time. Some of those operations included “Operation Justice”, which was an attempt by the agency to bribe some judges who were hostile to former President Jacob Zuma.
“The Commission misled us into believing that my clients were not going to be implicated by Jafta and now it has done so without even backing down the notice of rule 3.3 or part of Jafta’s affidavit for scrutiny as standard,” said the attorney.
Mufamadi, who chaired a high-level review panel on the SSA appointed by President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2018, testified that Project Justice involved recruiting and managing sources in the judiciary to influence the outcome of the cases against Zuma. “The complaints made were in the sense that the judges were bribed to achieve this purpose. However, this should be treated with extreme caution, as one would not want to be part of the destruction of public confidence in the judiciary if there is no real evidence that the operation was carried out to completion, ”Mufamadi said.
Jafta further revealed that the funds were channeled to the ruling party, ANC, for political activities. The commission was informed that millions from the agency were used for the 54th ANC elective conference in Nasrec in December 2017, where Ramaphosa was elected party leader.
The money was allegedly used to finance the Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma campaign. Jafta claimed that some of the agency’s illegal operations included providing security services for apartheid hitman Eugene de Kock, former ANC Youth League president Collin Maine, and former SAA board chairman. , Dudu Myeni, under a project codenamed Tin Roof.
The commission’s spokesman, the Rev. Mbuyiselo Stemela, did not respond to questions sent.
Independent sunday
[ad_2]
