South Africa has the second highest murder rate in the world. It is a favourite hangout for organised crime syndicates from every corner of the world..CORRUPTION...Who Cares ?
. No fear No Favour - The Truth sets you FREE...........
No Fear No Favour No Fazing of the ANC Corruption.........
November 30 2013 at 09:50am By Craig Dodds
President Jacob Zuma's homestead in Nkandla, KwaZulu-Natal. Picture: Bongiwe Mchunu
Johannesburg – The ANC is “not fazed” by revelations on Friday that President Jacob Zuma allegedly enjoyed “substantial” personal benefits from R215 million security upgrades at his Nkandla home and stands by him despite opposition calls for his head.
“We don’t understand how people have come to certain conclusions on whatever needs to be done, based on this report which might not be factual, that might not even be agreed to by the public protector herself,” Mthembu said.
“The authority is the public protector, who has a constitutional obligation to speak to the nation on any report.”
He added that a task team report commissioned by the Department of Public Works had cleared Zuma of benefiting improperly from work done at Nkandla.
That, however, is in stark contrast to the reported findings of Public Protector Thuli Madonsela’s provisional report.
The front page of Friday's Mail & Guardian.
.
According to the Mail & Guardian story, Madonsela had found, subject to possible changes after she receives feedback from affected parties including Zuma, that the president derived “substantial” personal benefit from the work, which exceeded security needs, and must repay some of the R215m spent so far.
Madonsela, according to the M&G, also recommended that Parliament call Zuma to account for violating the executive ethics code in that he misled the legislature when he said his family had paid for all structures not related to security and for failing to protect state resources.
Among items not linked to security were a swimming pool, visitors’ centre, amphitheatre, cattle kraal, marquee area, paving and houses for relocated relatives.
This work had been done at “enormous cost” to the state.
Zuma had also intervened to ensure that his private architect and builders contracted by him were appointed to complete the work done at state expense. Since his architect, who oversaw the entire project, was paid a percentage of the total cost of the project, he had an interest in maximising its scope, the M&G reported.
UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said the ANC had a responsibility to “deal” with its presidential candidate.
The party had set a precedent when it recalled then-president Thabo Mbeki from office before his term had expired and should do the same with Zuma, he said.
DA parliamentary leader Lindiwe Mazibuko said the revelations were so damning that Zuma should face “the most severe sanction”, should they prove to be correct.
If Madonsela’s findings in her final report didn’t change from those reported yesterday, she would consider tabling a motion to investigate Zuma under Section 89 of the constitution, which would involve an investigation by Parliament.
Madonsela’s spokesman, Oupa Segalwe, said the documents cited in the M&G report “are not ours” and could not have come from her office.
Ministers in the security cluster met Madonsela yesterday to discuss the M&G report, government spokeswoman Phumla Williams said.
The ministers wished to “reiterate the integrity” of the Public Works task team report, which had “established” that no state funds were spent on improving Zuma’s private houses at Nkandla.
Saturday Star
COMMENTS BY SONNY
LONG WALK TO ANC/ZUMA's CORRUPTION?
NOTHING IN THIS WORLD WILL FAZE THE ANC IN THEIR QUEST FOR POWER, GREED AND
Allegations against untouchable cops reveal an East Rand unit apparently in the fugitive's pocket.
The arrest of Radovan Krejcir has begun to expose the dirty web of influence and intimidation that the Czech fugitive has spun around himself, which is rumoured to reach high into police circles.
It also exposes the long-standing impunity of seemingly "untouchable" cops.
Warrant Officer Modise Samuel "Saddam" Maropeng, now a co-accused in the kidnapping and attempted murder case Krejcir is facing, seems to have been notorious within the Hawks.
Maropeng, who changed his surname from Mashego in 2011, was arrested this week alongside Warrant Officer Machache Jeffrey Nthoroane.
Nthoroane and Maropeng are accused of involvement in the abduction of Bhekithemba Bhayiloni Lukele in June this year.
Beeld reported that a charge sheet provided to Krejcir and his co-accused, Desai Luphondo, alleges Krejcir poured boiling water on Lukele in the course of an "interrogation" that lasted for days.
Maropeng is alleged to have a history of dodging charges.
'Chased'
One intelligence source, who does not want to be named, told amaBhungane that Maropeng was "chased away from OR Tambo International Airport".
A source who knows both Maropeng and Nthoroane said of them: "There was a time when they all wanted to go and work at the airport because they saw an opportunity. 'Saddam' managed to get to the airport after 2000." Forensic investigator Paul O'Sullivan told amaBhungane that there were allegations that Maropeng was implicated in a dramatic R100-million heist at the airport in 2006, but never faced charges because of the deaths of a series of witnesses. About R14-million of the recovered money was then stolen from a walk-in safe at the North Rand serious and violent crime unit in Benoni.
O'Sullivan served as head of security at the airport until 2003, when he was removed after coming into conflict with then police commissioner Jackie Selebi. He said Maropeng was "one of Selebi's people" at the airport, "used to escort dodgy loads".
Maropeng then surfaced at the West Rand organised crime unit under Colonel Dumisani Jwara.
Jwara was convicted in 2011 along with two colleagues, Inspector Victor Jwili and Captain Ratsheki Mokgosani, and sentenced to between 20 and 25 years in jail.
The three, plus another colleague who died in jail, intercepted drugs at OR Tambo and would then sell them on to dealers around Johannesburg. They were arrested in 2009.
Another source said Maropeng "was excluded from the case of Jwara" despite his name cropping up during an intelligence investigation.
Transferred
Instead, he was transferred to the East Rand organised crime unit in Germiston.
Sources connected to the Bedfordview underworld on Johannesburg's East Rand, as well as intelligence sources, claim that Maropeng got involved with Krejcir last year.
One source, with personal links to Krejcir, told amaBhungane that Maropeng had been "seen with Krejcir often". Another source claimed that he was at Krejcir's Bedfordview house before Krejcir's recent arrest. Maropeng has been mentioned before to amaBhungane by police and underworld sources. He was identified only as "Saddam", but labelled as someone to be feared. They said he drove expensive cars and it was clear he was living beyond his means.
A police investigator, who also does not want to be named, told amaBhungane that Nthoroane also seemed to live beyond his means and that fellow officers questioned how a warrant officer was able to "drive cars that cost more than double what our houses cost".
Nthoroane was one of several plain-clothes police officers removed from the anti-hijacking task team after complaints of robbery and corruption were laid against them following a drug-related search-and-seizure operation on January 30 2005. The director of public prosecutions declined to prosecute the detectives and no disciplinary proceedings were instituted against them.
'Innocent'
The lawyer for the two warrant officers, Victor Nkhwashu, said he would be able to respond to questions only after their court appearance on Monday.
"At this stage, our clients remain innocent of these charges," he said.
The same police investigator source said it should have been obvious to the pair's commander at Germiston, Colonel Frans Steyn, that they were living beyond their means.
Meanwhile, Steyn has taken annual leave following the revelation in last week's Mail & Guardian that he had received a R408 000 loan from Groep Twee Beleggings, a company controlled by Krejcir.
Steyn denied that he was aware of Krejcir's involvement and said he had met Krejcir for the first time in July this year, after the incident when the Czech was shot at from a booby-trapped car.
His version has been contradicted by a former Krejcir associate, who asked not to be identified. The man claimed that Steyn had known Krejcir from as early as 2009, and that they had met at Teazers, the strip chain owned by Lolly Jackson.
Denial
Steyn's layer, Gary Mazaham, said his client "has never been to Teazers to meet with Krejcir".
Last week, Steyn "categorically denied" that neither he, "nor any investigator based at my office, have ever investigated a case where Radovan Krejcir was the suspect".
Steyn claimed that he was "personally" asked to take charge of the investigation into the alleged assassination attempt on Krejcir outside his gold exchange shop, Money Point, in Bedfordview.
Steyn noted that the "day after the incident" at Money Point he received a call from General Shadrack Sibiya, the Gauteng provincial head of the Hawks. "He [Sibiya] indicated that I was on speaker phone and that Mr Krejcir was in his office. He indicated to me that he had asked Mr Krejcir if he was happy with me [Steyn] being the head investigator on this matter. He asked me to keep Mr Krejcir abreast of the investigation. That is why I went to see Krejcir personally on numerous occasions to keep him abreast of the progress."
While other cases in which several of Krejcir's alleged associates were murdered seem to have gone nowhere, a former Money Point employee, Brendan Harrison, was arrested in August for conspiring to murder Krejcir.
Struck off the roll
This week, however, the case against Harrison was struck off the roll after the magistrate declined to give the National Prosecuting Authority more time to consider Harrison's representations.
His lawyer alleged there were serious contradictions in the evidence against him. Harrison also alleged that Krejcir was allowed to threaten him while he was in the company of a Bedfordview investigating officer.
Hawks spokesperson Captain Paul Ramaloko said they were investigating the Groep Twee loan to Steyn: "If there [are] reasons to institute internal disciplinary steps, we will do so."
Meanwhile, a number of sources have suggested that more senior police officials may also be caught in the Krejcir net.
As early as 2010, Krejcir's former physician, Dr Marian Tupy, said in an affidavit that Krejcir had "often bragged that he could buy anyone".
Public protector directs Zuma to repay the state and explain himself to Parliament
President Jacob Zuma has derived “substantial” personal benefit from works that exceeded security needs at his Nkandla homestead and must repay the state, public protector Thuli Madonsela has provisionally found.
Cabinet members have justified the tax millions splurged on Nkandla, saying it was essential in providing Zuma with appropriate security.
But a swimming pool, visitors’ centre, amphitheatre, cattle kraal, marquee area, extensive paving and new houses for relocated relatives were all improperly included in the security upgrade at “enormous cost” to the taxpayer, Madonsela found.
AmaBhungane calculates that cost at nearly R20-million.
And, what may be Zuma’s greatest embarrassment since taking office, Madonsela’s provisional report recommends that Parliament must call him to account for violating the executive ethics code on two counts: failing to protect state resources, and misleading Parliament for suggesting he and his family had paid for all structures unrelated to security.
Zuma told Parliament last November: “All the buildings and every room we use in that residence was built by ourselves as family and not by government.”
Madonsela’s report is provisional as she has yet to give the interested and affected parties, including Zuma, a chance to comment, which may affect her findings. Its working title is Opulence on a Grand Scale – apparently from a complaint made by a member of the public. Her findings include that the upgrade constitutes exactly that.
The release of the report has been delayed by the security cluster and public works ministers’ attempt earlier this month to interdict her from releasing it pending the resolution of their “security” concerns. This has raised fears that Madonsela may be prevented from reporting her full findings.
AmaBhungane has learnt key features of the report from sources with direct access to it but who cannot be named due to sensitivity over leaks. Her findings are corroborated by over 12 000 pages of evidence amaBhungane obtained through access-to-information litigation from the department of public works, which implemented the upgrade.
Key allegations in the report include:
Costs escalated from an initial R27-million to R215-million, with a further R31-million in works outstanding;
There was “uncontrolled creep” of the project’s scope after Zuma’s private architect, at Zuma’s behest, assumed a second hat as the public works department’s “principal agent”. This meant he was conflicted, serving two masters with divergent needs;
Another four firms that Zuma had privately engaged for his own work were taken on by the department without following tender procedures.
AmaBhungane estimates that the Zuma appointees were paid more than R90-million by the state;
There were unsuccessful attempts by the department to apportion non-security costs to Zuma. Madonsela could not determine whether a document apportioning the costs reached Zuma;
The Nkandla upgrade was “acutely” more expensive than public works expenditure at previous presidents’ private homes, by far the most expensive of which was Nelson Mandela’s at R32-million (see graphic); and
Even genuine security measures, such as 20 houses for police protectors, a clinic and two helipads were excessive and could have been placed at the nearby town to benefit the broader community.
Security assessment
Madonsela does not share concerns about the R100 000 cap the Ministerial Handbook places on security upgrades at the private residences of members of the executive. She finds that its prescripts do not apply to the president and his deputy, whose needs are regulated by a 2003 Cabinet policy, among other measures.
A police security assessment in May 2009, after Zuma’s swearing in, and her own inspection in August this year confirmed a genuine need for a security upgrade.
Following the initial police assessment, the public works department estimated the upgrade at about R27-million.
But two factors intervened, both in August 2009: Zuma started building three new houses, necessitating further security, and his private architect was introduced to the department to become its principal agent for the entire upgrade.
Madonsela finds the latter resulted from Zuma’s “political interference”.
Zuma’s team
Her report quotes public works officials as saying they were told Zuma wanted the architect, quantity surveyor, engineers and building contractor he had engaged for his private work appointed by the department for the security upgrade.
Zuma, according to a statement from the architect, attended when his service providers were introduced to the department. Like all other contractors and consultants on the upgrade, the department engaged them without tender.
AmaBhungane calculates, based in part on the documentation it obtained, that the state paid Zuma’s team more than R90-million, including R16.6-million for the architect, R13.8-million for the quantity surveyor and R56.3-million for the builder. This is more than 40% of the total cost.
Madonsela places much blame for the eightfold cost escalation to R215-million on the architect, Minenhle Makhanya, who precipitated “uncontrolled creep” of the scope of the upgrade. He declined to comment for this article.
Makhanya was conflicted, Madonsela finds. As the department’s principal agent, he was supposed to ensure legitimate security works were implemented cost-effectively but, as Zuma’s private architect, he was supposed to satisfy the latter’s needs.
He allegedly remained directly in contact with the president, discussing designs with him.
Aggravating the conflict, Madonsela says, is that Makhanya’s fees were calculated as a percentage of project spend – an incentive to expand the scope of the works.
Wagging the dog
In the end, Makhanya became the tail that wagged the state dog. The police security experts made some proposals but the design was largely left to Makhanya, who was no security expert.
Madonsela cites the underground security bunkering and sheltered walkways as an example. The original cost estimate – admittedly before there were three more houses – was R500 000. After Makhanya’s introduction, this increased to about R8-million. Eventually R19.6-million was spent.
Madonsela says that Makhanya struggled to explain to her why the security upgrade needed to include elements she ultimately found improperly benefited Zuma – the swimming pool, visitors’ lounge, amphitheatre, kraal, paving and the relocation of some of the presidents’ relatives.
The relatives who had humble rondavels near Zuma’s homes, were apparently because Makhanya felt the security fence should not meander around them. R7.9-million was spent building the two affected families a collection of new rondavels beyond the perimeter fence.
A public works progress report from June 2010, among the documents amaBhungane obtained, places responsibility at Zuma’s door, saying that “it is understood that the owner/owner’s representative negotiated with the families” and agreed to provide each with four rondavels, palisade fencing, an access road, paving, water and electricity connections and a cattle kraal.
The report’s author expressed uncertainty whether this should accrue to the state or Zuma, and sought guidance.
Madonsela finds that the relocations did not fulfil a true security need, was “unlawful” and improperly benefited the presidential family.
Excessive
Other items she found exceeded security needs and unduly added value to the president’s private property are, as costed by amaBhungane:
l The swimming pool, which aerial photographs show as a large, oblong-shaped feature at the centre of an extensive paved area covering basement garages.
The public works documentation amaBhungane obtained refers to it as a “fire pool” on the pretext that it doubles up as a water reservoir for fire-fighting purposes, although photographs show a large water reservoir higher up the hill.
The minutes of a progress meeting in June 2011 show that Makhanya was to “meet with the principal [Zuma] and present the fire pool”.
An early estimate costed the pool at about R550 000 but it and the basement parking ultimately came to R2.8-million;
The visitors’ centre, which shares a building with a control room. An earlier estimate for the “visitors’ centre and lounge” came in at about R5.4-million but the “visitors’ centre and control room” ultimately came in at R6.7-million;
The amphitheatre – a large stepped area overlooking an open space for performances. It appears not to have been costed separately and forms part of R68-million in “general site works”;
The cattle kraal, including a chicken coop. The department’s original cost estimate provided for an existing kraal in the residential complex to be “revamped”.
But later pictures show an entirely new, much larger kraal, complete with a reinforced culvert going under the perimeter fence. AmaBhungane could find no separate costing for the kraal, but a March 2011 estimate put the culvert at R1.2-million; and
Extensive paving and a marquee area, which appear not to have been costed separately.
Repayment
The figures above, starting with the R7.9-million for relocations, approach R20-million.
Madonsela does not attempt a similar costing exercise but finds that the value of Zuma’s private property was unduly increased and that he must repay a “reasonable” amount to the state, based on the cost of non-security items.
She does not resolve why attempts by officials to allocate some of the costs to Zuma came to naught.
The documents obtained by amaBhungane show that the department’s own professional team complained in December 2010 about the runaway costs, with one official writing about estimates having “almost doubled” and the need for a budget to be “established and confirmed”.
The same official also writes: “Any grey areas in terms of apportionment of costs must be identified, discussed and resolved. Items which are essential and items which are ‘nice to haves’ and therefore not necessarily required for this project, must be discussed.”
Allocations
As of January 2011, there were several iterations of cost allocations, initially apportioning R7.9-million to Zuma. Two months later, in March, the department’s Durban regional manager brought the results of a third allocation exercise to the attention of his minister and her deputy: R10.7-million to Zuma.
The manager sought authority from them to proceed with these works, “as it falls outside the scope of security measures”, and suggested discussing it with Zuma.
Incidentally, Madonsela finds that the professional team was sidelined that same month, supposedly on head office instructions.
The next month, June, a fourth cost allocation exercise reduced Zuma’s portion to R3-million, amaBhungane’s documents show.
Madonsela says that the then deputy minister, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, was also sidelined after asking questions about costs and apportionment. Zuma shifted her to become deputy minister of women, children and persons with disabilities in October that year.
Madonsela finds there is inconclusive evidence for whether the apportionment calculations reached Zuma. However, implicit in her conclusions is that, by the time she completed her provisional report, Zuma had not repaid a cent.
His office has never responded to detailed questions about the upgrade, including apportionment, and had again not done so at the time of going to press. – Reporting by Stefaans Brümmer and Lionel Faull
Zuma's say-so sent millions to his annointed Nkandla contractor
President Jacob Zuma's intervention halfway through the security upgrade at Nkandla channelled an extra R20-million to two contractors, one of whom had been his own private builder before government work began.
Although Zuma allegedly justified himself on the basis that he did not want different contractors on his premises for a new phase of construction, the bulk of this work was to accommodate a sizeable police VIP protection contingent on government property removed from his homestead.
This flies in the face of the distinction that the parliamentary joint standing committee on intelligence tried to make this month between the upgrade on Zuma's private land and construction on adjacent land belonging to the public works department, and where the additional R20-million was spent.
"Neither these buildings nor any of the security features to be found on the state-owned property belong to the president," said the committee's report to Parliament earlier this month. "It should therefore be noted that over 52% of the costs of the security upgrades went to the state-owned property."
On the contrary, Zuma's documented request to retain the previous contractors led to their appointment by the state to take on the additional work – to build 20 new police houses at a staggering R1-million per house.
Building contractor Moneymine, which Zuma had previously commissioned as his private builder, got the lion's portion of this work.
Zuma made his demand through then-deputy public works minister Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu in December 2010, when the department was considering how to undertake phase two of the upgrade.
On December 16, the project's quantity surveyor advised the department of two possible ways of dividing up the work for phase two. The surveyor suggested that Moneymine and co-contractor Bonelena could continue doing security work within the homestead while a new contractor built the police accommodation elsewhere.
The other option, the surveyor proposed, was for Moneymine and Bonelena to share the police accommodation contract between them, in addition to the work assigned to them on Zuma's property.
The surveyor recommended the latter option, although they also raised a concern that Bonelena had struggled to deliver during phase one.
The clincher, however, appears to have been Zuma's demand to keep new contractors out.
According to the project manager's procurement report that later justified the decisions made by the department: "A meeting was held with Deputy Minister Bogopane-Zulu … on December 21 in which she confirmed that the Principal [Zuma] indicated that he does not want other contractors on site in Phase II opposed to Phase I."
In January 2011, the department appointed Moneymine and Bonelena to do all the work on both the properties. –Reporting by Lionel Faull & Stefaans Brümmer
The M&G Centre for Investigative Journalism (amaBhungane) produced this story. All views are ours. Seewww.amabhungane.co.za for our stories, activities and funding sources.
MAIL AND GUARDIAN
COMMENTS BY SONNY
SO THIS IS THE CORRUPTION THE SECURITY CLUSTER TRIED TO KEEP FROM US!
HOW CAN THIS GENTLEMAN NOT BE IMPEACHED?
HE IS A DISGRACE TO EVERY DECENT, HONEST CITIZEN OF SOUTH AFRICA!
HOW MUCH MORE MUST WE TAKE?
HE IS NO BETTER THAN JULIUS MALEMA. THE ANC MUST GO DOWN WITH ITS CORRUPT LEADERS.
Independent online (SA)2013-11-27: BRENDAN ROANE, ANGELIQUE SERRAO and SOLLY MAPHUMULOJohannesburg - ‘Saddam” loved the high life. He drove many cars and had several addresses. He is also a serving policeman. On Tuesday, the Hawks officer was arrested by police at the Germiston Organised CrimeUnit. He works in the office of a top cop who recently admitted to receiving a Radovan Krejcir-backed loan of more than R400000. Saddam is one of two warrant officers from the Hawks who were nabbed by police on Tuesday. The Star cannot reveal their identities until they appear in court. The officers were arrested hours apart on Tuesday - a... more »
A Hawks member has been arrested in connection with the kidnapping and attempted murder charges that Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir is facing.
The police arrested the warrant officer just after 8 on the East Rand on Tuesday morning, said SAPS spokesman Lieutenant-General Solomon Makgale.
“It is always disappointing when we have to act in this manner against our own members but we cannot just shrug our shoulders and not act against those who are alleged to have contravened the laws of this country,” he said.
At the time of publication, the officer had not been named and Makgale said more arrests could not be ruled out.
“We cannot name any suspect before he appears in court,” said Makgale.
The 41-year-old man was arrested at the Germiston Organised Crime Unit for his alleged involvement in the kidnapping and attempted murder, which is believed to have taken place in Elsburg in June.
The National Prosecuting Authority finally named Desai Lupondo as the other man who was arrested in connection with the crime last Friday.
The Star understands that the warrant officer was also investigated in connection with the murder of businessman and alleged Krejcir associate Bassam Issa last month, but Makgale would not confirm this.
Issa had been indirectly linked to Krejcir, but it was reported that Krejcir denied having any dealings with him.
There was confusion about the number of arrests on Tuesday morning, as Makgale would only confirm one arrest while some media reports quoted the Hawks spokesman Paul Ramaloko as saying there had been two arrests.
Last week, the Mail & Guardian reported that the head of the Germiston Organised Crime Unit, Colonel Francois Steyn, had received a loan of R408 000 from a Krejcir-controlled company.
Steyn admitted to receiving the loan but denied he knew that Krejcir controlled the company, Group Twee Beleggings, whose sole director is Krejcir’s wife, Katerina Krejcirova.
Meanwhile, Krejcir’s legal team said their client’s first night at a medical facility, which cannot be named, had gone well.
The team, from BDK Attorneys, won an order in the Johannesburg High Court on Monday to allow Krejcir to be taken to a hospital for treatment.
Judge Ramarumo Monama also ordered that the State pay for Krejcir’s legal costs in this application.
“It was fine, he has been admitted and he’s been treated by doctors,” said Krejcir’s attorney Ulrich Roux on Tuesday morning.
“He’s obviously in better conditions and in better health,” Roux said.
The attorney on Monday slammed the State’s request to hold the bail application behind closed doors as he said this was the first time the police had said there were security issues.
The area around the courtroom where Krejcir appeared was cleared by heavily armed police for security concerns.
“The whole scene was over the top,” said Roux.
He said the Protea Glen police station, where Krejcir was kept over the weekend, had the standard amount of police security when they consulted with him.
There had been no beefed-up security measures ahead of the court appearance, he added.
“It was like consulting with a normal client – he might as well have been arrested for drunken driving,” Roux said.
It was not known when the suspect would appear in court. Krejcir is to be held in hospital until his bail application on Monday.
brendan.roane@inl.co.za
The Star
Hawks officers’ court date with Krejcir set
November 28 2013 at 11:15am
By BRENDAN ROANE
Machache George Jeff Nthoane who was allegedly involved in dodgy criminal dealings with Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir appeared at the Palmridge Magistrate's Court. Photo: Antoine de Ras
Johannesburg - These are the two cops who have been implicated in the kidnapping and attempted murder charges that Czech businessman Radovan Krejcir is facing.
The two burly Hawks members - Warrant Officer Samuel Modise Maropeng, nicknamed Saddam, and Warrant Officer Machache George Jeff Nthoroane - were arrested hours apart on Tuesday and appeared in the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
Their case was postponed to Monday for a formal bail application and they will appear alongside Krejcir and another accused, Desai Lupondo.
All four have been arrested on charges of kidnapping and attempted murder dating back to an incident in Elsburg in June, but police and prosecutors are yet to reveal their possible roles in the case or details of the incident.
The pair tried to hide their faces from the media cameras when they were brought to court in a police vehicle, by covering their faces with the clothes they were wearing. But when they were escorted from the cells, they waved at photographers.
The court was not as heavily guarded as it was when Krejcir appeared on Monday. Krejcir’s appearance was held behind closed doors amid security concerns.
One of the co-accused Samuel Modise Maruping who was alledgedly involved in dodgy criminal dealings with Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir appeared at the Palmridge Magistrates court. Picture: Antoine de Ras, 27/11/2013
INLSA
On Wednesday, the two officers were guarded by four members of the police’s Tactical Response Team armed with assault rifles.
Both Hawks officers were represented by Victor Nkhwashu, who applied for an order granting Maropeng access to medical attention while in custody, because his client had told him that both his wrists were injured.
“I saw the left wrist was swollen,” Nkhwashu told the court.
Nkhwashu also requested that Maropeng have access to his medication for hypertension and asthma.
Magistrate Joel Martini granted the order.
Maropeng, 41, and Nthoroane, 46, were arrested at the offices of the Germiston Organised Crime Unit on Tuesday.
The head of the unit, Colonel Francois Steyn, recently admitted to the Mail & Guardian that he took a loan from Groep Twee Beleggings, whose sole director is Krejcir’s wife, Katerina Krejcirova.
Steyn told the paper he had no knowledge that the company was controlled by the Czech fugitive when he took the loan in 2010.
Police have denied any link between the arrests and the report.
Meanwhile, it emerged this week that convicted drug dealer Glenn Agliotti also took a loan of R400 000 from Groep Twee.
Sars was granted a provisional sequestration order on Agliotti’s estate on Monday in the Pretoria High Court, which means he has until February 10 to respond.
brendan.roane@inl.co.za
The Star
CARTE BLANCHE
The Body Count
Date : 17 November 2013 19:00 Producer : Bernadette Maguire Presenter : Bongani Bingwa
Share your views and join the conversation on twitter #BodyCount.
On Tuesday, the eastern Johannesburg suburb of Bedfordview was rocked by a bomb blast. The explosion at Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir’s Money Point gold dealership killed two people, with three critically injured. While investigators searched for a possible second device, we spoke to Gauteng police’s Neville Malila.
Brigadier Neville Malila (Police Spokesman): “At half past five there was a person that walked into the shop and the person indicated that there is an explosive device in the bag that he has. Shortly after that the explosive device detonated.”
Czech fugitive, Jan Charvat, a friend of Krejcir, was killed in the explosion, along with Money Point manager Ronnie Bvuma - also close to Krejcir - who has been interviewed by the police in search of a motive.”
Neville: “There is a team of investigators that’s going to investigate all possibilities.”
There’s no shortage of theories... Paul O’Sullivan says it’s time the law caught up with Radovan.
Paul O’Sullivan (Forensic Investigator): “There’s the theory that Krejcir could be doing this himself; there is another theory that he has really crossed the wrong people in South Africa and they are giving him some of his own treatment.”
He was reportedly hiding at his three-storey mansion in Bedfordview, but was seen later in the week visiting the injured in hospital. It’s brought the body count of Krejcir associates to 12. One of the injured is believed to be an eyewitness in last month’s hit on underworld figure, Sam Issa.
Neville: “We’re looking at possibilities... if all these incidents, that happened lately in Bedfordview, if they are linked.”
“Black Sam” as Issa was known, was killed in a dramatic mob-style hit. Chad Thomas, forensic investigator, knew him well.
Chad Thomas (Forensic Investigator): “He was extremely colourful – he lived the life of an underworld gangster; he used to have Jacuzzi parties; he would party it up until three in the morning with models, etc. And the rumours about him being involved in drugs have gone back a number of years.”
For some weeks, there’d been word on the street that Issa’s number was up - even that he’d almost been abducted from his home two weeks before.
Bongani Bingwa (Carte Blanche presenter): “But as they drove away from his complex, a tyre burst and the kidnappers fled.”
But in the end they got their man. Security specialist Mike Bolhuis believes the murder was drug-related – and linked to Radovan.
Mike Bolhuis (Security Specialist ): “Issa was killed because of a drug deal that went bad between him and Radovan.”
That’s Mike Bolhuis’s view, but others with a foothold in the underworld allege that Issa had been a middleman in smuggling drugs from Brazil.
Mike: “The information we had is that there was money... an amount of 2-million [rand] owed on 10 kilograms of cocaine which wasn’t paid. Radovan owed Issa Bassam – he owed him this money.”
According to Bolhuis, Issa then couldn’t pay his suppliers, and that was the end of him.
Then, two weeks later, an Issa associate, Serbian Veselin Laganin, was murdered at his home in Bedfordview.
Mike: “Word on the street is that he had a loose mouth. As I have said before, these guys get taken out when they either owe money or something goes wrong in the drug trafficking trade, or if the person is an information problem.”
Veselin, who was laid to rest last Saturday, had links to Krejcir. The pair appeared in court last year in connection with an armed robbery. Sources say that Issa had posted their bail. But no one wants to speak too loudly about the relationship between Krejcir and the two murdered men. This man, who wouldn’t appear on camera, said the link was drugs.
‘Sias’ (Krejcir associate): “Veselin and Sam and Radovan are obviously in a business related to obviously drugs, cocaine.”
Veselin was a coke dealer with ties to Darko Saric, allegedly a powerful Serbian drug dealer based in Uruguay. The Serbian press has linked Saric to Krejcir and says he visited him in South Africa this year. Which is why Mike believes Veselin’s murder was not a house robbery.
Mike: “It’s been staged as a robbery in our opinion; there has been a previous robbery in the complex similar to that. So, the police might say: ‘But listen, there’s been a previous robbery similar to that where a man was wounded – also just a few things taken’. But these guys aren’t stupid; they are very intellectual – when they plan a murder it’s done precisely, correctly - that’s why it’s called a hit.”
Krejcir had said he would speak to us to answer the allegations, but he’s been unavailable since the Money Point blast. On Friday morning he released a video statement in which he recorded his version of events.
Over the years, numerous press reports have linked him to the killing of private investigator Kevin Trytsman in 2009 and strip club boss Lolly Jackson (in 2010). He’s always denied them.
[Sep 2010] Radovan Krejcir: “Why would I have something to do with Lolly Jackson’s death. He was my friend, he was my buddy. I met him twice a day – I mean twice a week for the lunch, and I have so many fun and hobbies together with him.”
Then there was German supercar specialist Uwe Gemballa, allegedly suffocated in a house rented by Krejcir’s business manager Ivan Savov. Yet Radovan denies that he lured Gemballa to South Africa to kill him.
Bongani: “One of the allegations is that you [gestures with throat cutting] took care of him?”
Radovan: “If I killed Gemballa, how is it possible that I am sitting here, guys? – you supposed to visit me in Kempton Park police station.”
But there’ve been very few arrests in connection with a string of underworld murders over the last three years; among them, businessman Chris Kouremetis (Oct 2010); Cape Town underworld boss Cyril Beeka (Mar 2011); and two Lolly Jackson associates, Ian Jordaan (Sep 2011) and Mark Andrews (Sep 2011). And then there was gangster-turned-state-witness Leon Davids (Oct 2013) in the Beeka murder case.
Radovan (Prepared Statement 14 Nov 2013): “I want to categorically state that I have had no involvement in any of the killings that the media have been so freely speculating about. I am sure that if there were any evidence of my involvement, the South African Police would have found such evidence by investigation. There is no evidence because I am not involved and have not been involved in any murders of anyone.”
The Hawks’s Paul Ramaloko confirms they don’t have enough evidence to take action against anyone.
Paul Ramaloko (Hawks Spokesman): “There is a lot of rumours surrounding his involvement in all the happenings around Bedfordview, but we want to say that we haven’t got anything in-hand which would give us the strength to take him to court.”
Bongani: “How do you explain that so many people linked [to], or associated with Krejcir have ended up dead?”
Paul: “When people are counting bodies, we are counting facts.”
So far the facts haven’t fingered the kingpins. In the Gemballa case, only the foot soldiers were nabbed.
Mike: “Unless they finger who has paid them and who has given them the command to kill Uwe Gemballa, this means nothing.”
And so the murders of Uwe Gemballa, Cyril Beeka and Lolly Jackson remain unsolved.
Paul Ramaloko: “We have seasoned detectives working around the clock.”
Costa Jackson, Lolly’s brother doesn’t believe him.
Costa Jackson (Lolly’s brother): “Since 2010 a bit of investigating was done, but since then nothing has happened. I hear from nobody, nobody says a thing. The minute something gets found out you hear a bit about it and then it disappears.”
In part this is because George Louka, the alleged triggerman, who might have all the answers, is fighting extradition in Cyprus, allegedly too terrified to return home.
[Recorded in Central Prison Nicosia, June 2012]
George Louka: “You know better than me they will shoot me down. They threaten me – they threaten our families. I’m telling the truth.”
Bongani: “What about an individual like George Louka, who says he won’t come back here because he’s afraid that if he’s in your Witness Protection Program they’ll get to him?”
Paul: “The process of extraditing him is underway; he is playing the delaying tactics.”
As for all the stories about Radovan, he says he’s just a family man trying to make a living.
Radovan (Prepared Statement 14 Nov 2013): “I am very disappointed that the media continuously paint me as the ‘bad guy’ and seem to relish or enjoy painting me as some sort of evil gangster or outright criminal.”
The Hawks seem to agree.
Paul: “One would come and say these are entrepreneurs, who have some differences; who then go out and kill one another.”
Bongani: “These aren’t just entrepreneurs?”
Paul: “To identify, or label individuals as criminals, we must have evidence.”
Mike: “[laughing] Wow, let me react by saying I disagree!”
‘Entrepreneur’ isn’t what most people would call a man wanted in his home country for fraud, counterfeiting money, conspiracy to commit murder and blackmail.
[Carte Blanche, September 2010]
Radovan: “I am not hiding in front of no-one – the name that they are calling me - fugitive - is not actually the right one.”
Radovan joins the ranks of other controversial figures like Mafioso Vito Palazzollo, who lived in South Africa from 1986 to 2012; Gadafi’s banker Bashir Saleh, and convicted Serbian assassin, Dobrosav Gavric.
Radovan holds a temporary refugee permit and has been trying to get political asylum in South Africa since 2007. When asked about Radovan’s status, the Refugee Appeals Board told us asylum applications are confidential.
Radovan says his life is in danger. Apart from the latest hit at Money Point, a car was blown up there.
[24 July 2013]
Radovan: “All my life is like James Bond stuff – so it’s usual stuff for me.”
Others of course say it was nothing more than a flamboyant con.
Mike: “George Louka was on his way back to South Africa. If he waited a couple of weeks he would have seen that the extradition was halted. I don’t believe it a bit.”
Chad Thomas (Forensic Investigator): “I think that was a pyrotechnic joke of note. I don’t think anybody had a serious intention to kill him; I wouldn’t be surprised if he staged it himself.”
Radovan (Prepared Statement 14 Nov 2013): “It is highly irresponsible of the media to speculate, on the one hand that I have any involvement in the incidents in which my own life was, or could have been, at risk.”
But the Hawks aren’t as sceptical.
Paul (Hawks): “We are looking into an attempt into on his life – we don’t want to jump to conclusions.”
Bomb blasts, attempted hits, murders... Is it a turf war or planned criminality? It all paints a picture of organised crime.
Mike: “Organised crime in South Africa is very big – it’s enormous. I’m tempted to say that it is bigger than the police presently –it has escalated to a situation where it is now totally out of control.”
