Ex-branch cop squirms at Aggett case
JUDGE Ronel Tolmay yesterday again raised concerns about former SAA board chairperson Dudu Myeni’s continued absence as evidence from more witnesses – particularly former SAA senior executives – supported the case made by Outa and the SAA Pilots Association’s (SAAPA) in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, to declare her a delinquent director.
Yesterday, former SAA chief financial officer Wolf Meyer corroborated the evidence of his former fellow executives – who included former acting SAA chief executive Nico Bezuidenhout – in alleging that Myeni was behind the failed R1.5 billion profit guarantee deal that SAA wanted to sign with Emirates in June 2015.
Evidence before court indicated that Emirates had offered to allow SAA to use its Dubai route to fly its own passengers there.
The parties had also agreed to share their international lounges and catering services.
SAA, according to the witnesses, were allegedly also to be allowed to put its passengers on Emirates flights. The witnesses further testified that the prices of the air tickets would have been determined by the national airline.
According to SAA executives – the deal would have allowed SAA to gain an estimated profit of R1.5bn if the deal was concluded on June 16, 2015. The court heard that, at the time of the proposed deal, SAA was operating at a loss on its Joburg/Abu Dhabi International route which allegedly drew the ire of the National Treasury.
Meyer also supported the version of his former fellow executives that Myeni allegedly thwarted a multibillion
CONTRADICTORY evidence, lying under oath and accusations of trying to protect accomplices dominated the inquest into the death of anti-apartheid activist Dr Neil Aggett yesterday as former security branch officer Nick Deetlefs took the stand.
Aggett was found hanging in his cell in 1982 at John Vorster Square police station after enduring torture including electric shocks, according to fellow activists.
Deetlefs is among a number of security branch officers accused of torturing political detainees during interrogation.
He has admitted to being among the security cops who interrogated Aggett.
Deetlefs confirmed to the court that political detainees were tortured and subjected to electric shocks at the notorious 10th floor of the station, where they were interrogated, and where he worked for most of his career in the police.
Deetlefs, however, denied any participation in the torturing of detainees.
“I never assaulted any detainee during interrogation. It was against my principles,” he said. swop transaction with Airbus for the acquisition of five A330 aircraft which the national airline had intended to use for international routes to Dubai and other parts of the Middle East, Europe and London.
During his cross-examination by Myeni’s counsel, advocate Nqabayethu Buthelezi, Meyer corroborated Bezuidenhout’s version that Myeni said that the instruction not to sign the Emirates deal in Paris on June 16, 2015, came from former president Jacob Zuma.
“I was with Mr Nico Bezuidenhout when he received the call from Ms Myeni. Mr Bezuidenhout placed his phone on speaker. I did hear Ms Myeni telling him that the instruction not to sign the Emirates deal came from the former president.
“We all knew she had a good relationship with the former president,” Meyer maintained.
He also testified that the Airbus deal
Representing Aggett’s family, advocate Howard Varney opened his cross-examination by warning Deetlefs that the Aggett family would “vigorously pursue a prosecution” against him, but only if he misled the court and lied under oath.
“I have instructions from the Aggett family. They want to set out the approach that they are taking to the police witnesses who appear before this court.
“If you take this court into your confidence and testify honestly, my instruction is that where you are honest and assist the court to get to the truth they will not pursue a criminal prosecution against you,” Varney said.
When pushed by Varney to name the cops who had been responsible for torture, Deetlefs said he did not know but that he had heard frequent screams in interrogation rooms.
He also told the inquest that he had never seen the electric shocks being used, despite insisting that they were used regularly for torture.
“I heard from the security officers that it was done there on different occasions and on different detainees.
“I heard a report recently that Neil Aggett had been shocked by officer Arthur Cronwright. Until today I have never known who did that but the which would have allowed SAA to lease five aircraft failed, allegedly because Myeni insisted on the involvement of the African Aircraft Leasing Company, saying it was in contravention of their Section 54 application they made to the then finance minister Nhlanhla Nene.
Meyer told the court that Nene had on September 11, 2015, given SAA the green light to clinch the deal with Airbus.
“It was for that reason that Minister Nene rejected another application to amend the Section 54 approval and to include the involvement of the African Aircraft Leasing Company,” Meyer said.
He confirmed that he refused to write to Myeni in support of the involvement of the African Aircraft leasing company prior to Nene rejecting it.
“I refused because the initial approval of Minister Nene did not include the fact remains that it was done. It was a general thing,” Deetlefs said.
He said he used psychological methods in his interrogations and not force, including asking detainees about their backgrounds to make them relax.
Varney rejected Deetlefs’ evidence as contradictory and false.
“On the probability, what you have alleged before this court that the electric shock treatment was so common, it was happening all the time and a general thing in your words. We will be submitting that your evidence that you never witnessed this and that you simply cannot tell the court who was involved in this electric shock treatment is false,” Varney said.
He accused Deetlefs of trying to protect his colleagues by lying to the inquest.
Anti-apartheid activist and former deputy minister for international relations and co-operation Ebrahim Ebrahim, who attended yesterday’s proceedings, accused Deetlefs of having tortured him and many other key activists, and of submitting lies to the court.
“He was notorious. Key activists were tortured by him and he always boasted and said he dealt with so and so and broke so and so,” Ebrahim said.
Deetlefs returns to the stand today.
African Aircraft Leasing company.”
In his testimony, Meyer alleged that Myeni’s action prompted him to resign as CFO but he said it came at a price. According to Meyer, he was allegedly accused of having been responsible for SAA’s financial losses a few days after his resignation. He said the claims were made in Parliament and he had to use the media to clear his name.
The trial continues.