The desperation of a member of Gauteng organised crime, now known as Witness F, to side-step accountability and name names at the Madlanga commission became explosively apparent on Tuesday and Wednesday.
WhatsApp messages extracted from the phone of the policeman working with deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya have shown how he became a link between his boss and alleged cartel members.
His attempts to subvert justice started on Friday when his lawyers asked for a postponement, saying they are not ready and are still going through voluminous evidence.
The commission, which is probing allegations of criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system, granted a postponement to Tuesday.
But on Tuesday Witness F’s lawyer, Hartley Ngoato, arrived at the commission in Pretoria at 9:34am — shortly before the policeman was due to appear from a secret remote location —with an application to interdict his appearance.
The lawyer claimed his client would boycott the commission pending the outcome of the interdict hearing.
However, commission chairperson justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga was having none of it, saying that in terms of section six of the commission’s work, it is an offence for a witness to refuse to participate before the commission probing allegations of criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system.
Witness F had no choice but to resume, but again tried his luck when later in the day his lawyer asked for an early adjournment, citing hunger as the reason for the delay.
Madlanga granted the early adjournment but made it clear the commission would sit until 6pm on Wednesday to make up for lost time.
On Wednesday, however, Witness F had the audacity to request another adjournment, this time claiming he wasn’t feeling well and that he needed to consult a doctor.
It’s apparent witness F is feeling the heat and is attempting to stall any further probe into the nefarious dealings of criminals and colluding cops.
This follows a bid from North West businessman Suleiman Carrim, who on Monday launched an application to block the commission from subpoenaing him to testify and answer to allegations that he sought to influence suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu in a controversial R360m South African Police Service tender.
The commission is opposing the matter and Madlanga says the high court should strike the matter from the roll as he has failed to make a case on urgency. In his view, the application is an “abuse of process”, and any urgency faced by Carrim is self-created.
The evidence linked to witness F speaks to the rot and insidious capture of the criminal justice system that shook the nation when KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi dressed in military-like uniform and surrounded by masked police officers with automatic weapons, dropped his own bombshell in July last year.
The litany of revelations from witness F include how Gauteng head of organised crime Richard Shibiri approached controversial blogger Musa Khawula and pleaded with the him not to post the story on alleged criminal kingpin and tenderpreneur, Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala because he was a “good guy”. When Khawula refused, he was arrested.
He spilled the beans on Sibiya’s relationship with Matlala as well as a “very dangerous” businessman Steve Motsumi, who was linked to cash-in-transit robberies in Limpopo. The commission saw a video of Witness F exiting the home of alleged cartel member Katiso “KT” Molefe with a paper bag that was suspected to have contained money.
The chats also revealed a conversation about firearm dealings between him and someone whose number had been saved under the name of the late deputy president David Mabuza.
The evidence linked to witness F speaks to the rot and insidious capture of the criminal justice system that shook the nation when KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, dressed in military-like uniform and surrounded by masked police officers with automatic weapons, dropped his own bombshell in July last year.
Attempts by those to “abuse the process” to prevent the truth from emerging — so ultimately those who need to face the music are brought to justice — must not be allowed to prevail.
This Stalingrad tactic, most famously employed by former president Jacob Zuma to escape the clutches of the law, is telling of desperation and self-implication.
The pressure must be maintained to ensure the end of the reign of the drug trafficking cartels, along with senior politicians and police officials who for years have wreaked havoc in our country.
No doubt it is the first step in a long process towards justice, but judge Madlanga knows he has the full backing of the country to throw the book at anyone who attempts to thwart this mission.
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