Hawks raid Pauw’s house
THE Hawks yesterday swooped on investigative journalist Jacques Pauw’s Riebeek Kasteel guest house looking for “confidential information and secret documentation” used in his best-selling book, The President’s Keepers.
Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi told The Mercury that the matter was referred to the corruption and organised crime-fighting unit by the police after complaints by the State Security Agency (SSA). He insisted that the Hawks needed to satisfy themselves that Pauw did not have the confidential information and secret documentation used in the book.
According to Mulaudzi, the search and seizure operation was legitimate and had been authorised by a magistrate in the Western Cape.
“It’s very difficult to obtain a warrant for a search and seizure operation,” he said.
Mulaudzi said they were not there to arrest Pauw.
Pauw said his home, guest house, restaurant and office were searched for about two hours.
Speaking after the raid, Pauw said he has been under investigation since he published the book.
“The warrant they had was legal, they took a few papers but it was very insignificant. When they arrived I said to the colonel who was in charge that they were not going to find any secret or classified documentation in my office, it would be stupid if I kept them there,” he said.
Pauw said he was not intimidated and that all the Hawks had achieved was negative publicity “once again”.
“There is a commander or general in the top echelon of the Hawks who gave an instruction to raid the workplace of a journalist and I think that is very worrying, that should never happen,” Pauw said.
Pauw said he was “surprised they’ve only arrived now”.
He said the search was requested specifically by SSA director-general Arthur Fraser, who Pauw implicated in corruption in The President’s Keepers.
He said he contacted his lawyer in Johannesburg: “It was a long search, it’s a big place”.
Pauw and his wife, former journalist Sam Rogers, run a guest house, The Red Tin Roof, in Riebeek Kasteel about an hour outside Cape Town. Since his book was published late last year, he has been investigated by the police and had court applications against him.
In December, the SA Revenue Service (Sars) filed papers in the Western Cape High Court accusing him of transgressing the Tax Administration Act by disclosing confidential taxpayers’ information.
At the time, Pauw said he was astonished when he received the notice of motion, but felt it was an admission that the revelations contained in his book were true: “It is not an attack on the credibility of the book but is confirmation of the credibility of the book”.
An affidavit attached to the motion by Sars boss Tom Moyane quoted from about 15 pages of the book that contravene the act.
These include payments made to former president Jacob Zuma and his son Edward.
They also include Pauw’s revelations about Cape gangster Mark Lifman and others owing Sars hundreds of millions of rand.
Also in December, a criminal investigation was instituted against Pauw in Durban.
Colonel Reuben Govender, who reportedly has a reputation for intimidating suspects, was the investigating officer.
The case was subsequently removed from him, and placed with the provincial head office.