CHARGE THOSE BEHIND CAMPAIGN TO SMEAR FSB HEAD

Prevention of Organised Crime Act. The charges arise from the stripping of surpluses (more than R100 million in current values) from the Sable Industries Pension Fund and the Power Pack Pension Fund (later the Cullinan Group Pension Fund).

Contributing to the vilification campaign have been J Arthur Brown, who is standing trial for his role in the downfall of Fidentia, and a British businessman, Matthew Machin, who claims to have bought up a bundle of civil claims, amounting to billions of rands, that Brown has brought against numerous parties, including me, for “loss of earnings”.

This week, the vilification campaign and the unsupported accusations of criminal activity levelled against Tshidi and Mostert were taken to new heights.

It is unacceptable that people in public office, who need the trust of citizens, can be so violently defamed and yet the state does not take any action. Charges of criminal libel must be investigated, and those who are orchestrating the campaign must be charged.

The campaign has seen the use of anonymous websites and emails, the planting of false or incomplete information with a few naïve journalists and the production of a crude comic publication.

This week, investigative magazine Noseweek apologised for an article in its most recent edition that attacked Mostert mainly but also Tshidi and even Personal Finance. Noseweek had not verified any of the claims it made.

One of the false claims made in the article was that Mostert had recovered hundreds of millions of rands but that none of it had been distributed to former members of the retirement funds.

After Noseweek published the apology on its website, Mostert sent it out to various parties via his secretary’s email address.

Thereafter an email – ostensibly from Mostert’s secretary, but clearly