Hawks probe former SSA boss who 'took R112m' for 'phantom operations'

A former director-general of the State Security Agency (SSA), Sonto-Gladys Kudjoe, is under investigation by the Hawks for alleged theft and/or corruption involving as much as R112m in "temporary advances" for operations sourced by her office.

Kudjoe is a former ambassador to Sweden and Egypt, now working as SA's secretary for defence. She faces claims that she, working with a handful of people in her office, created what appear to have been phantom operations that required large sums of cash, which were mostly ordered by her personal assistant or office manager.

A key feature of these operations was the near nonexistence of proof of execution, something that has led the SSA to open a criminal case against her at the Lyttelton police station in Tshwane.

Hawks spokesperson Katlego Mogale confirmed yesterday that the case was opened and transferred to the Hawks' National Serious Corruption Investigation Unit.

"As and when all evidence important to the investigation is concluded, then and only then will arrests be effected and those who are alleged to be involved will have their identity known once they appear before court," said Mogale.

A highly placed source claimed Kudjoe's top-secret security clearance for the job as secretary for defence was turned down because of the criminal case against her.

The Sunday Times has established that the SSA opened the case against her following concerns about the legitimacy of the operations and what appeared to be a pattern of abuse relating to "temporary advances" that she and her small team made while at the helm of the country's spooks.

Kudjoe's appointment was announced by then minister of intelligence Siyabonga Cwele in August 2013, after consultations with then president Jacob Zuma. She left the agency in August 2016 after what were reported to be soured relations with Cwele's successor, David Mahlobo.

The Sunday Times has seen documents, including an affidavit written by SSA head of internal control Teboho George Ramokhele, that detail a collapse of systems during Kudjoe's tenure.

It is alleged she changed budget control processes and moved a sizeable chunk to her office, a general claim also made in the High Level Panel report penned for President Cyril Ramaphosa by a team led by Sydney Mufamadi, who was recently appointed the president's security adviser.

Ramokhele has written two affidavits about Kudjoe's alleged actions. One pertains to section 32 of the Combating of Corrupt Activities Act, which compels managers to report suspicious transactions above R100,000 to the South African Police Service (SAPS). The second relates to the state capture commission, at which an unnamed witness, Ms K, accused Kudjoe of being one of the directors-general on whose watch the SSA started falling apart.

In both affidavits, Ramokhele mentions a number of suspicious multimillion-rand transactions for special projects that he, in the state capture affidavit, aggregates to R112m between March 2014 and April 2016.

"The figure is unprecedented and the brazenness from her office of handling the cash jolting," writes Ramokhele.

Another affidavit, by retired SSA domestic boss Mahlodi Muofhe, states in part: "The office of the DG in SSA is not directly involved in operations as there are designated structures … Furthermore, the staff officer in the DG's office cannot be involved in requesting and collecting cash intended to be used for operations as her duties were only administrative in nature … What is even more concerning are the large sums of money she collected from the cashier's offices herself and carried out of the premises. She never even asked for security escort when she did." Muofhe could not be reached for comment.

Kudjoe said through defence head of communications Siphiwe Dlamini that it was interesting that she found out about the case against her shortly after the departure of former defence minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.

Mapisa-Nqakula was replaced by Thandi Modise during a cabinet reshuffle two weeks ago, and was this week elected speaker of the National Assembly.

"Until then, at no stage was Ambassador Kudjoe informed of such by the agency, nor did she get contacted by the SAPS informing her of such a case being opened. It must be stated that [she] is following the matter for clarity from the institutions that are said to be involved in this matter," said Dlamini.

In an internal report dated January 25 2017 directed to then director-general Arthur Fraser by the divisional head of forensic investigations, who required permission to conduct a forensic investigation into Kudjoe's conduct, five areas of concern were raised.

These included "payables", temporary advances, debtors, settlement and fixed assets. The report recommends that the probe should be in phases because of the number of transactions involved.

It then notes that temporary cash advances must be prioritised. "The bulk of such temporary advances happened through the office of the accounting officer [Kudjoe] and the manner of settlement is a cause for concern," the document reads. Ramokhele notes some of the anomalies that require investigation:

• Requests would have a component for equipment but there would be no assets to declare once the "project" was completed;

• Several "projects" based abroad would not include the South African Secret Service (SASS), which has a mandate to operate out of the country;

• Official methods of carrying cash across borders by the SASS would not be used; and

• Large sums in rands would be requested and provided even though the mission was based abroad.

Many of the reports submitted from Kudjoe's office appeared to have a standard paragraph stating that while efforts will be made to ensure that disbursed funds are accounted for, there will be instances where "supporting documentation will not be available to support the expenditure incurred so as to maintain operational security of the project".

The source said this was "plainly an attempt to use the secret environment of intelligence to pursue nefarious schemes and then claim that operational security will be threatened by accountability. R100m is a lot of money to not have any substantive evidence to support such expenditure. It creates an impression of looting on a grand scale."

The temporary advances seen by the Sunday Times include amounts of R8.5m and R9.7m within four days of each other, ordered by Kudjoe's office.

In his affidavits, Ramokhele also raises concern about the SSA ordering about R50m in cash in December 2015, at a time when operations were at a seasonal low. This was followed by a break-in days later in which R17m was stolen.

Muofhe's affidavit reads: "The above concerns have led me to believe that ambassador Kudjoe has a case of fraud and corruption to answer on why she diligently approved so many cash payments without following proper processes, or at worst deliberately violating all applicable policies, procedures and regulations."

SSA spokesperson Mava Scott yesterday declined to comment on the case.

Temporary advances for operations sourced by former State Security Agency director-general Sonto-Gladys Kudjoe’s office include:

• A request and approval for R8.5m in funding, dated October 20 2014, for what appears to be a job that could be done by communications/media researchers: “The purpose of this project is to analyse and address the perceived lack/minimal information that is available on the public domain is[sic] on what government has done over the past twenty years since the advent of democracy, its major achievements, showcasing what has changed in the lives of ordinary South Africans and how it has positively impacted communities, towns, cities, provinces and the country at large.

The purpose of the analysis to be conducted will be to determine the media’s predominant areas of focus and the impact thereof on the national dialogue and perceptions by the South African public, as well as to a lesser extent, perceptions outside the country.” Operational equipment required for this was R2.1m, entertainment cost R132,280, air tickets cost R560,000 and “general ledger operations” cost R5.2m. It was initiated by an office manager in Kudjoe’s office and approved by Kudjoe the same day.

• A request to Kudjoe on May 17 2016 — by the same desk-bound office manager — for R17.7m for someone to travel around Africa for reasons that could not be disclosed. It was approved seven days later. The cash was collected by the office manager. Air travel cost R400,000, accommodation R460,000, entertainment R170,000 and general operations were more than R16m.

• A request on October 22 2014 for R500,000, $450,000 and €350,000 to “conduct operational work related to regional influences in the Northern Hemisphere as it relates to South Africa and its influence on the African continent”. The funds were sourced from Kudjoe’s office.

• A request for R2.7m in local currency on January 22 2015 for an operation to be conducted abroad. The member responsible for this operation was refunded more than R800,000, which presupposes that this member used their private cash for operations – even though they allegedly did not bring evidence to support this.