Mandela unit cop starts to spill the beans

Andre Lincoln lawsuit under way

WHEN apartheid- era police bombed Cosatu House in May 1987, their motive was not just to destroy the building but to remove a printing press to be used to print counterfeit US currency from the basement.

This is one of the activities likely to be revealed when Major-General Andre Lincoln’s R15 million lawsuit against the state resumes on Monday.

Lincoln is suing the Minister of Safety and Security and the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development for damages suffered when he was “maliciously” criminally charged while investigating secret police activities involving gangs in the Western Cape.

When Lincoln took the stand this week, he testified that he had been charged because of what he knew when he worked as an underground ANC intelligence operative, and when he headed a presidential investigative task unit under Nelson Mandela in 1996.

Lincoln told the court that the unit, which was eventually disbanded, was mandated to investigate secret police activities with links to the criminal underworld.

He also testified that he was met with opposition from senior police who were linked to the activities he was investigating.

This week’s hearings were filled with suspense as revelations were made of former senior officers interfering in crime scenes where anti-apartheid activists were killed, including the Gugulethu Seven.

Lincoln is seeking relief for “malicious prosecution” for 47 counts of fraud, theft and drunk driving. He was convicted and sentenced on 17 charges but was acquitted on appeal in the High Court.

He told the court he was prosecuted because of what he knew about the activities of the apartheid-era Narcotics Bureau and Murder and Robbery Unit.

The Gugulethu Seven were Umkhonto we Sizwe operatives gunned down by apartheid police in March 1986. Lincoln testified that Leonard Knipe, a former police director, was involved in the crime scene.

He testified that when Community House, a Salt River building which housed activist organisations was bombed in 1997, Knipe was also involved.

A source close to the case told Weekend Argus the press removed from Cosatu House was then used to print counterfeit US dollar notes.

This illegal printing operation, also known as Project Donna, was unveiled by Lincoln’s unit but the investigation was squashed.

noloyiso.mtembu@inl.co.za

PICTURE: TRACEY ADAMS Major-General Andre Lincoln leaves the Western Cape High Court where his R15 million lawsuit was heard this week.