Johnathan Paoli
Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and Major-General Nozipho Madondo have accused the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC) of acting outside its mandate and with political motives after an aborted attempt to arrest them.
The two officers, through their attorneys, have lodged a formal complaint with the Police Minister and also wrote to the National Director of Public Prosecutions and IDAC head Andrea Johnson after they were instructed to report to Brooklyn Police Station for arrest last week, only for the operation to be called off.
In their complaint, their lawyers say that IDAC’s actions raise serious constitutional concerns and question whether the anti-corruption unit is lawfully pursuing the matter.
“The investigation and prosecution undertaken by IDAC against our clients is clearly outside the legislative mandate of IDAC and therefore is outright unlawful,” the complaint states.
On Thursday last week, Khumalo and Madondo received telephone calls informing them that warrants had been issued for their arrest on allegations of fraud and corruption.
According to correspondence sent to the NDPP, the pair was instructed to report to Brooklyn Police Station and “bring overnight clothes in anticipation for a cold night in the prison cell”.
However, while travelling to the station, they allegedly received another call from a man identified by their attorneys as Dylan Perumal, who introduced himself as IDAC’s lead investigator, who told them the arrests had been stayed.
Despite the cancellation, they proceeded to the police station, waited for about an hour and found nobody present to process the arrests.
Their lawyers have now asked that authorities provide at least 48 hours’ notice should they intend to execute the warrants in the future, and asked why no warning statements were taken before the attempted arrests.
The complaint described “obvious areas of concern”, saying that the officers “have not been given the basic right of having a warning statement taken from them, which is a right afforded to every citizen”.
The complaint also attacks the merits of the underlying prosecution involving the appointment of Brigadier Dineo Mokwele.
The officers contend they served on an interview panel after Mokwele had been shortlisted and approved to proceed to the interview stage, and recommended her for appointment after she emerged as the highest-scoring candidate.
According to the complaint, the recommendation was subsequently endorsed by a moderating committee and approved by the national police commissioner.
The lawyers said that an internal SAPS investigation found no irregularities on the part of their clients in the recruitment process.
“From the above background it becomes glaringly clear that IDAC has no prospects of success in proving the charges against our clients, in fact we take the point further and say that there is no prima facie case against our clients,” the complaint read.
The complaint also alleges that the prosecution is politically motivated.
“The continued prosecution of our clients is nothing more than a malicious prosecution with significant undertones of political in-fighting within the security cluster.”
They say that the investigation was triggered by a “defective affidavit” submitted by MP Fadiel Adams. They said IDAC failed to demonstrate that the case falls within its statutory jurisdiction.
Khumalo and Madondo’s legal team also criticised IDAC’s handling of previous bail proceedings, saying an earlier bail condition barring the officers from the vicinity of Crime Intelligence had to be set aside by the Pretoria High Court after an appeal.
The complaint concluded by urging the Police Minister to urgently investigate IDAC’s conduct.
“If the above facts set out herein are anything to go by, clearly IDAC is masterfully falling short of its mandate in terms of the Constitution of the Republic, and is falling foul of the NPA Act itself. Clearly, the administration of justice and the rule of law are being put into disrepute by IDAC,” the complaint read.
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