The Mbeki Pikoli Selebi soapie

[Dave A]

Is this ever turning into the all-time soap opera of Africa. The rough story outline suggested so far:

The head of NPA gets some damning evidence his mate, no less the chief of police, is doing a bit of shady business on the side with one of the top organised crime bosses in the country. Another good pal, no less than the president of the country, tries to get the whole mess swept under the carpet.

Tears, drama, duty, loyalty and betrayal. All it's missing is some good sex scenes and it would be a worldwide hit series.

[kernel32]

All it's missing is some good sex scenes and it would be a worldwide hit series.

Are you sure you want to see them in sex scenes?!?!

[Dave A]

I never watched Brokeback Mountain. Does that answer your question?

[Dave A]

The more I read of Pikoli's testimony, the more concerned I become about the "merging" of the Scorpions into the SAPS.

Pikoli said that the National Prosecuting Authority's work would not have been compromised if Selebi -- the head of Interpol -- had been arrested as a "Joe Soap".

"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.

"As the national director, obviously I wouldn't want this country reduced to a wasteland," he said.

He had taken an oath of office and had responsibilities under the Constitution.

"It would be like saying the [police] national commissioner can't be arrested because police officers will cause mayhem. We must close down as the NPA if we are going to be helpless in the face of these threats."
full story from M&G here

There has been enough evidence coming out of late that quite a few members of the police really deserve some serious investigation - and that the SAPS is not particularly diligent about following through on allegations of misconduct amongst their own. Without an external body pursuing these cases, there really seems little prospect of them ever being curbed.

[Dave A]

Frene Ginwala has praised suspended prosecuting boss Vusi Pikoli as a "person of unimpeachable integrity" - and simultaneously gave President Kgalema Motlanthe a reason to fire him.

The president on Monday declined to reinstate Pikoli as national director of public prosecutions, despite Ginwala declaring him fit and proper to hold office.

In a move that Pikoli's legal team have slammed as a travesty of justice, Motlanthe justified his decision with Ginwala's observation about Pikoli's interaction with ex-president Thabo Mbeki over the Scorpions' mooted arrest of police chief Jackie Selebi.

Ginwala criticised Pikoli for second-guessing Mbeki's concerns about the potentially devastating impact of Selebi's arrest, and refusing to give the then president two weeks to prepare South Africa for it.

So it's goodbye Pikoli for not listening to his President. Of course, that wasn't the reason given at the time of his suspension.

Can we believe this is the real reason now?

[Dave A]

It seems Vusi Pikoli did well before the parliamentary committee today, at least according to this report by M&G.

Let's hope this committee isn't just window dressing. There seems to be lots to like about having Vusi heading up the NPA.

[Dave A]

The parliamentary committee has endorsed the President's decision to sack Pikoli. However, it was far from unanimous.

The endorsement of Motlanthe's decision to dismiss him nearly 18 months after he was first suspended by Mbeki was vehemently opposed by opposition MPs on the ad-hoc committee reviewing the matter.

Steve Swart from the African Christian Democratic Party said the opposition was convinced that Pikoli should be reinstated, in line with the recommendations of the Ginwala inquiry last year.

"In our view the issue of national security is a smokescreen to justify the president's decision to fire advocate Pikoli," he said.

Monareng confirmed that he had refused a request by the opposition to table a minority report on the matter.
full story from M&G here

It is easy to dismiss this as a sideshow, but once the legislature approves the committee's report, President Motlanthe will be in a position to appoint a new prosecutions director who will inherit responsibility for the corruption case against Jacob Zuma.

Wheels within wheels.

[Dave A]

No chance Jackie was hoping the case would be dismissed for unreasonable delays?

Police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi was angry at the postponement of his corruption trial to October in the High Court in Johannesburg on Monday.

"Let the people have the courage to put the allegations they have to me in an open court of law -- that's why I'm angry," he said after the trial was postponed to give the state more time for the investigation it began in 2006.

The state should not "run around and give excuses about this and that and files that are lost", said Selebi, explaining that he had abandoned an original demand for outstanding documents that could help his case so that the trial could start.

...state prosecutor Gerrie Nel said it wasn't possible to start because they had to find the missing file, which contained information on the surveillance of Agliotti by British police, and consider new information that was "dumped" on them at the start of the long weekend, as well as follow up on statements.

This concerned notice from the state attorney that some of the police witnesses they had wanted to interview were ready to impart information.

He said the NPA had had a "fight" since 2006 to get information from the police for their investigation.

Selebi's lawyers, however, simply wrote a letter to the state attorney and were given "very secret information" that was declassified.

Only two people in the police, who are state witnesses, had the power to declassify this information, giving them the impression that their investigation was being hindered by those loyal to Selebi.
full story from M&G here

And it looks like we might be in for more of the Zuma defence tactic...

His lawyer Jaap Cilliers said this was to start the trial and to give Selebi a chance to show "that he has been degraded by the [National Prosecuting Authority (NPA)] for improper purposes".

More recorded telephone conversations coming?

[Morticia]

All those thinking that Selebi is going to face the music, raise your right hand...