The South African Police Service’s crime intelligence division is being investigated over its controversial purchase of a R24.5-million luxury property in Johannesburg, acquired through a front company with funds from a covert operations’ secret account.
The Office of the Inspector General of Intelligence is currently probing the purchase, alongside a series of other eyebrow-raising transactions.
Records Sunday World has seen showed that the purchase of the property in a Midrand suburb, registered on January 10 under a known front company run by two crime intelligence officers, comes after the purchase of a 24-bedroom luxury boutique hotel in Pretoria for R23-million and another in Berea, Durban for R22.8-million.
DA MP Dianne Kohler-Barnard highlighted to parliament that the R22.8-million property, bought in cash, was actually valued at just R9.5-million, suggesting a significant inflation in the price.
In response, Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu said he had ordered an investigation following claims that the signatories of the offer to purchase received huge, multimillion-rand payments from the proceeds of the sale.
Despite the questions about the Midrand property, Mchunu reiterated that the inspector general is examining the secret service account’s use in the purchases.
“An investigation pertaining to the secret service account as well as other matters is currently being undertaken by the inspector general,” Mchunu said, responding to questions about the alleged unlawful use of the so-called slush funds for property procurement by the SAPS Crime Intelligence division.
The Midrand property, much like the Pretoria one, was formerly a hotel, complete with conference facilities, guest rooms and leisure areas.
Spanning 1.9927 hectares, it is intriguingly registered at a known crime intelligence location in Silverton.
Police insiders said the purchase of properties using the secret services account was in violation of established procurement protocols, adding that the fund was established to support covert operations and its budget hardly exceeded R500-million.
“When crime intelligence needed these sites, why wasn’t there a way to get them through the Department of Public Works or the South African Police Service?” asked the source.
Whereas Mchunu’s office was mum on the approval of the Midrand property transaction, documents showed that the Berea transaction was approved by supply chain manager for the secret services account, Captain Ellie Mabusela, section head for finance and administration of the secret service account, Colonel Samamaya Mayekiso, and component head for the secret service account in crime intelligence head office, Major General Philani Lushaba, on January 17. This after they authorised the payment of a balance of R21-million.
During a meeting with parliament on Wednesday, Mchunu informed the chamber that the issue should be sent to the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence, which is a watchdog for state intelligence services.
Sunday World reported in January that the assassination of former ANC Youth League secretary-general Sindiso Magaqa was carried out using weapons purchased by the crime intelligence funds and that one of the hitmen was a registered police informer on the unit’s payroll.
The details were contained in an explosive affidavit to Mchunu by an undercover operative who said he initially recruited Magaqa’s would-be hitman to be an informer, exposing how the then 35-year-old politician was ambushed and shot on July 13, 2017, with resources from crime intelligence.
