WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2009-01-22 Time: 04:00:06 Posted By: Jan
By Deon de Lange
Former president Thabo Mbeki acted swiftly – in accordance with intelligence only he possessed at the time – to avert a national security crisis when he suspended National Prosecuting Authority chief Vusi Pikoli in September 2007, parliament has heard.
Reverend Frank Chikane, director-general in the Presidency, on Wednesday painted a chilling picture of a country on the brink of a major security crisis and a president who appeared to have lost faith not only in his chief prosecutor, but in the security establishment as a whole.
Chikane defended Mbeki’s actions and dismissed suggestions that his move against Pikoli was aimed at stalling the NPA’s probe into National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi, who has since been suspended pending the outcome of an investigation into his alleged links with organised-crime syndicates.
On Tuesday, Pikoli told parliament’s multiparty ad hoc committee, which must recommend whether he should be reinstated, that he was suspended to prevent the execution of search-and-seizure warrants against Selebi.
This included a warrant to search the premises of the South African Police Service’s crime intelligence headquarters.
Pikoli was adamant that he did everything by the book and that his investigation into Selebi’s activities was the real reason for his suspension.
But Chikane said on Wednesday there was no way of knowing how the police would react to a raid on its intelligence headquarters – even if such a raid was legally authorised by a judge.
He also implied that a raid by the NPA could have resulted in sensitive intelligence files ending up in the hands of foreign intelligence services.
“I was worried about how the police may react. Now, if you have a search warrant, that’s fine, but you can’t arrive at the police intelligence headquarters with a warrant and raid the place,” he told MPs.
He explained that Mbeki had asked Pikoli to delay the execution of the warrants for 14 days to allow him sufficient time to “prepare the ground” for what Mbeki believed would be a nation-rattling move against the country’s top cop.
“Now there was this tension between the security services. I said (to Pikoli): ‘For you to do your work, you need the state to enable you to do your work. You might be independent. You might have the right to do your work, but if the police deny you access, the president may need to call the army to ensure you get access’,” said Chikane.
Chikane referred to the NPA’s raids on the home of Jacob Zuma, where Scorpions investigators were met at the gate by gun-toting members of Zuma’s VIP protection unit, as an example of how easily such a standoff could develop.
He insisted that Mbeki needed time to call a meeting of the National Security Council and to brief the police’s top brass before any action was taken against Selebi.
But sceptical opposition MPs questioned whether a move against Selebi could really have triggered a security crisis or a dangerous standoff with the police.
IFP MP Koos van der Merwe noted that Mbeki had known about the Selebi investigation for at least six months prior to the warrants being issued, suggesting Mbeki had ample time to “prepare the ground”.
Pikoli on Tuesday told the committee that he left his last meeting with Mbeki and Chikane – where the request for more time was made – believing these steps would be taken within the week and that he could thus proceed to act against Selebi.
But within days he was suspended, leading him to believe that his suspension was an attempt to stall the investigation into Selebi.
However, Chikane insisted that Pikoli was suspended because he did not consider the national security implications of such a move.
The committee will meet again on Tuesday to start its deliberations.