City Press - Sunday, 05 Nov. 2006
Makhudu Sefara
THE Scorpions' raids on the homes of former Limpopo premier Ngoako Ramatlhodi this week will deepen divisions in the ANC with the "Zuma camp" already rallying behind him.
The ANC Youth League, one of the loudest supporters of ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma, yesterday called the raids "another attack on our democracy" and accused the Scorpions of engaging in "yet another fishing expedition".
The league was to have met Ramatlhodi late last night to discuss the matter before commenting further.
The elite investigating unit of the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) swooped on Ramatlhodi's "pumpkin paradise" mansion in Tzaneen, Limpopo, and his second home in Faerie Glen, Tshwane, at 6am on Thursday.
They were looking for further documentary evidence to assist them in their probe into alleged corruption linked to the R750 million social security tender allocated by Ramatlhodi's provincial government in 2002.
City Press understands that the Scorpions had "essentially completed" their investigation and had raided the homes to ensure they were "not leaving behind" important information when Ramatlhodi is finally charged.
A source said Ramatlhodi and his unnamed lawyer had, at some stage, been summoned to appear before investigators to be interrogated.
"Ramatlhodi provided answers which have since been found to be untrue," the source said.
This apparently related to his claim that he had financed his R1.1 million Pretoria home with an access bond from a bank he had used to finance his Tzaneen mansion. Investigators apparently did not find this in bank records. They are also investigating how he acquired two Mercedes-Benz sedans and a Range Rover in 2003.
But an angry Ramatlhodi yesterday scoffed at claims that the Scorpions were closing in on him. He suggested the raids occurred only after he had written to the NPA demanding to know the status of the probe.
"I wrote (to) them about three weeks ago to say that my admission (as an advocate) had been delayed because of the so-called investigation. I wanted a letter from them to say what was happening. I can't sit here (at home) and read newspapers, I have gone to school.
"They then replied, acknowledging receipt of my letter and said they would respond in due course. The next thing, they respond by raiding my homes . . . This is how people use state organs against their comrades," he said.
The raids came shortly after Ramatlhodi made headlines by accusing President Thabo Mbeki of "autocratic behaviour" and dividing the ANC.
Although Ramatlhodi yesterday refused to link the raids to his comments about his former friend, others in the ANC - all linked to the "Zuma camp" - said the actions were "further proof" that the Scorpions were being used as a "private army" in the ANC succession battle.
Ramatlhodi's woes date back to 2002 when the Limpopo government re-awarded a three-year R750 million tender to disburse pensions to Cash Paymaster Services-North (CPS).
CPS's empowerment partners are Northern Corporate Investment Holdings (Nicoh). Its directors include lawyer Solly Mohale and businessman Gideon Serote. Ramatlhodi refers to the two as his friends.
But it was a shareholders' tiff at Nicoh over whether a charitable trust, Baobab, should be allowed a 10% shareholding that sparked the trouble.
It is claimed Baobab was used to channel funds from pension monies to the provincial ANC and politicians who included Ramatlhodi and former finance MEC Thaba Mufamadi.
Ramatlhodi issued a statement through the ANC on Friday claiming that the investigation over the past three years "has been highly prejudicial".
In an interview with City Press yesterday, he accused the Scorpions of defying court decisions. He said they had, at some stage, refused to return documents seized at Mohale's and Serote's homes although two courts had demanded they do so.
Ramatlhodi said the unit had again raided Mohale's home on Friday, looking for the same documents it was initially ordered to return by the courts.
"They (the Scorpions) have gone crazy, they are drunk with power and I am not impressed at all. They claim to defend the law but when a court rules against them, they go to another judge," Ramatlhodi said.
The Scorpions had arrived at his home while he was sleeping and had "traumatised" his 11-year-old who was preparing to go to school.
They had taken several documents, including bank statements, and his "personal file" with items he had kept since his time as Limpopo premier. They also took two cellphones, which they later returned, he said.
In his statement, Ramatlhodi had said how former National Director of Public Prosecutions, Bulelani Ngcuka, had told him he was being probed.
Scorpions prosecutor Cornwell Tshavhungwa, who was in charge of the investigation, later said there was no case against Ramatlhodi.
When Tshavhungwa was later arrested on an unrelated matter, the case against Ramatlhodi was re-opened.
Ramatlhodi yesterday said Ngcuka had approached him long after he had stepped down, to get him (Ramatlhodi) to persuade Mohale and Serote to withdraw their then court challenge to the raids. He said Ngcuka had promised the NPA could "see to it" that "no prosecution" took place if the two withdrew their court challenge.
Ngcuka could not be reached for comment yesterday.
SA's top cop denies allegations linking him to a mafia-style criminal organisation involving senior policemen
National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi believes a smear campaign is being waged against him to remove him from his post.
"I don't do crime, I am not corrupt," Selebi reacted to a front page report in the Sunday Times and articles in the Rapport implicating him, his deputy Commissioner Andre Pruis and other senior police officers in criminal activity.
"All of these stories that I have read have got no bearing on the truth. All kinds of falsehoods and what people call leakages are made (against) my name," Selebi told reporters at a press conference in Pretoria.
He would go to court to stop the campaign if it continued, he said.
The Sunday Times reported that a 144-page document, containing affidavits by witnesses and informers, was part of a criminal investigation by the Scorpions.
"It paints a chilling picture of how the syndicate -- which is involved in the smuggling of drugs, cigarettes and cigars, human trafficking and the trafficking of stolen car parts, liquor and cell phones, has spread its tentacles into the South African Police Service," the newspaper reported.
Rapport wrote that Selebi was being investigated because of his involvement with certain people believed to have criminal links.
Selebi named the Airports Company SA's former security group executive Paul O'Sullivan as the man behind the allegations.
O'Sullivan had some kind of vendetta against him and wanted him removed from his post, Selebi charged.
"No person who works for a foreign intelligence service would come to South Africa and say I must go."
It was not the first time O'Sullivan had claimed to have evidence implicating him in criminal activity, Selebi continued.
"His allegations were investigated by the Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD). He had to produce witnesses of the allegation he was making in this dossier, he failed to produce this, the ICD said there was no way we could proceed," Selebi said.
On allegations that the Scorpions were investigating him, Selebi said he would assist them, even by opening up his bank records if they asked.
He had not asked the Scorpions whether he was under investigation, but would not object if he was.