Johannesburg - Shocking revelations that about R4million had allegedly been spent by Crime Intelligence to spy on the EFF adds pressure on Parliament to speed-up the probe into the intelligence slush fund.
According to The Star’s sister paper, The Sunday Independent, millions from the intelligence slush fund were used to pay informants who supplied information on the EFF and #FeesMustFall activists, including their meetings, rallies and strategies.
The EFF has threatened National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise with a court action if she fails to expedite the establishment of the standing committee on intelligence by Friday.
The police said on Sunday that a probe into those who looted millions of rand from the Crime Intelligence slush fund over the years is at an advanced stage.
National police spokesperson Vishnu Naidoo said they would get to the bottom of those behind the looting.
This comes after reports that the slush fund was being looted by top cops to pay for their personal expenses.
The Sunday Independent reported that an internal report of Crime Intelligence had revealed how top cops looted the slush fund of the division under the pretext of using them to help infiltrate the EFF and the #FeesMustFall campaign. The money was, however, allegedly used to pay for luxury cars and hotel stays.
Naidoo said while he could not reveal the names of those who were being probed, the investigation into their alleged activities by SAPS officers was at an advanced stage.
“There are several investigations that are ongoing on this matter and, some are about to be concluded.
“But I am not allowed to publicly reveal their names because they have not yet appeared in court,” he said.
According to the report, some of the purported informants in bogus crime intelligence projects, who would “assist” in the infiltration, did not even exist.
More than R5m was allegedly looted from the account.
This comes after senior Hawks detective Colonel Kobus Roelofse testified before the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture on how senior officers had looted the slush fund, with the police top brass refusing to declassify the documents which were needed to conduct a probe.
He also described disgraced former Crime Intelligence boss Richard Mdluli as being a law unto himself while at the helm of the division, with the slush fund plundered for his personal and his family expenses.
These included a R90 000 settlement for his car instalment; payments of private flights for Mdluli, his family and other crime intelligence officials amounting to more than R1.6m between 2010 and 2011.
Roelofse said he had started dealing with Mdluli’s case while he was investigating the killing of a police officer in Vosloorus, when he discovered that documents were being deliberately classified in a bid to hide criminal activity by top cops.
Some of the money allegedly looted by Mdluli was used for security upgrades of R190 000 to his Boksburg home; and for the purchase of luxury cars between 2009 and 2011 to the tune of R3.15m.
According to The Sunday Independent, the looting of the funds continued even after Mdluli, with Major-General Deena Moodley and Colonel Preadhashni Govender, using it to cover the costs of their 2016 stay at the Drakensberg Sun Resort under the pretext of monitoring an EFF meeting at the venue regarding the party’s rally the following day, where there was a plan to commit arson.
When this was exposed as lies, the two allegedly changed their story and said they were at the resort to meet an informant who had information on how former president Jacob Zuma was being poisoned.
Roelofse said apart from the R90 000 settlement on Mdluli’s car instalments, there was also a settlement on a car registered in the name of Sunday Times associate editor Ranjeni Munusamy.
An amount of R143 621 was paid to a Wesbank vehicle finance account on July 30, 2008 through Atlantis Motors. Tiso Blackstar, which owns the Sunday Times, said it had placed Munusamy on special leave while it investigated the matter.
The journalist said the allegations against her were baseless. A senior official within Criminal Intelligence said new boss Lieutenant-General Peter Jacobs “was cleaning up all the mess left by Richard Mdluli and rotten elements in the unit”.