DA on trail of Zuma ‘spy tapes’
THE DA is to submit parliamentary questions to the ministers of Police and state security to determine whether the Crime Intelligence Unit and/or the National Intelligence Agency is in possession of the secret spy tapes that helped President Jacob Zuma escape corruption charges and become president.
James Selfe, the DA federal chairman and spokesman on Correctional Services, said yesterday that South Africans had never been informed of the content of the tapes, despite their “immense and continued impact on the SA political landscape”.
Selfe said that, depending on the replies to the questions, the party would determine the way to proceed.
The DA’S decision follows reports that former head of the Special Investigating Unit, Willie Hofmeyr had asked the Office for Interception Centres for help in obtaining a copy of the tapes, which date back to 2007.
The tapes allegedly show secret collaboration between Hofmeyr’s former deputy, Faiek Davids, and former Scorpions boss Leonard Mccarthy in a phone conversation relating to the struggle for leadership between Zuma and former president Thabo Mbeki.
Hofmeyr and Davids have been embroiled in a legal battle since November 2010, when Hofmeyr axed Davids due to a breakdown in their working relationship.
In November last year, Hofmeyr asked Office for Interception Centres director Brian Koopedi to confirm whether it had the recordings and to supply him with a copy.
His request followed a ruling by Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration commissioner Bart Ford that the tapes of conversations between Davids and Mccarthy, on which Hofmeyr had relied in his decision to fire Davids, contravened the Regulation of Interception of Communication Act.
The matter is between the SIU and the CCMA and not between Hofmeyr and the CCMA. Hofmeyr was still head of the SIU when he requested the tapes.
The SIU has applied to the Johannesburg Labour Court to have the ruling reviewed and set aside.
Yesterday, spokesman for the Ministry of State Security Brian Dube confirmed the Office for Interception Centre had received correspondence from Hofmeyr and had responded. He declined to comment further.
Hofmeyr and the acting head of communications for the SIU Marike Muller declined to comment on the matter yesterday. “We have been advised that we are not able to comment on this matter as it is before the Labour Court,” Muller said.
The DA has applied to the Supreme Court of Appeal to have the 2009 ruling to halt Zuma’s prosecution overturned.
“The fact that the Zuma ‘spy tapes’ led to a change in government, the recall of a president, the dropping of corruption charges against Zuma and are indicative of the ‘state within the state’ that the chaotic politicised intelligence services have become, continues to generate immense public interest,” Selfe said.
The DA’S case is due to be heard in Bloemfontein on February 15.
“Depending on what the court decides there, we will need to develop a legal strategy for ensuring that the decision to discontinue the prosecution of Zuma was by a competent court.”