Former senior NPA prosecutor Advocate Mike Mashuga was on Wednesday singing like a canary before Parliament’s ad hoc committee investigating allegations of political interference, capture, and corruption within the criminal justice system.
Mashuga was testifying about his role in trying to prosecute former Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) boss Robert McBride and his associates Sarah-Jane Trent and Paul O’Sullivan for allegedly subverting the mandate of the directorate in their illegal pursuit of former National Police Commissioner Khomotso Phahlane.
‘Trio targeted Khomotso Phahlane’
Mashuga said the trio had gone completely rogue, ganged up against a top police officer, and used IPID as a front while trying to get dirt on Phahlane, disguised as evidence in a legitimate investigation.
Among other troubling anomalies at the time, he testified, was the leading role O’Sullivan and Trent had assumed in the investigation against Phahlane. This was when they had no locus standi within IPID, and McBride allowed it.
‘Fake search warrant’
Mashuga told the committee that the search warrant that was used to raid Phahlane’s home under the pretext that a police service provider had installed a sound system for him as gratification was in fact a ruse. They wanted to get into the house to identify items that they could question Phahlane about and how he bought them.
“On 17 November 2016, O’Sullivan induced Jooste into making a statement containing false information and on same 17 November 2016 O’Sullivan induced Venter to sign a statement containing false information,” said Magusha.
“This is O’Sullivan, whom we know was a private person and not an IPID member, but he drafted statements for the two witnesses, Christ Jootse and Antonetta Venter, and then he emailed them, saying that these are their statements.
“Jooste, in his witness statement, says that Mr O’Sullivan did not even interview him relating to that statement and Ms Venter also says she was interviewed. That statement was couched in a language that seemed like an innocent draft, but we knew that it was in contravention of the law because they were not IPID officers and had no business drafting witness statements,” he added.
Claims of ‘witness’ intimidation
“Secondly, we knew that they acted with intention because there is that issue where they threatened General Phahlane that ‘we are going to imprison you’ and we knew that was part of them taking Phahlane to prison.
“We knew that before these statements were sent to witnesses, there was intimidation according to Christ Jooste, who was intimidated by Mr O’Sullivan.”
Jooste and Venter were part of the body corporate of the estate, which contained Phahlane’s house.
‘Trent was impersonating a police officer’
Mashuga said days after O’Sullivan forced Jootse and Venter to sign the statement, Trent induced Jootse to withhold information from police by sending a WhatsApp text.
The message reads: “Hi Chris, please send me your name and ID number as it appears from your ID for the subpoena. Thanks a million. We are on our way to your offices. Officer Mandla (Mahlangu) says the CCTV photos are not important and can be removed from the statement.”
Mashuga said this was proof that Trent was impersonating a police officer.
“They do not have any business to subpoena witnesses. Section 18 of the Prevention and Combating of Corrupt Activities Act (PRECCA) makes it an offense for a witness or any person to persuade or cause a witness to remove any part of his/her statement.
“This is exactly what Trent was doing, she was instructing a witness to remove a paragraph that dealt with the photos. She had no right to interfere there, and this contravenes PRECCA.”
‘O’Sullivan was posing as an IPID officer
Mashuga also revealed that O’Sullivan, while posing as an IPID officer, had also asked Jootse and Venter for Phahlane’s bank statements.
Phahlane informed McBride about O’Sullivan’s conduct and sent him proof of a picture of the man’s vehicle inside the estate, calling for him to be probed.
Instead, McBride apparently forwarded the message to O’Sullivan, proving that they were in cahoots in the pursuit of Phahlane.
