By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The controversial North West businessman Brown Mogotsi continued to be cross-examined on Thursday as he appeared before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry in Pretoria.
Mogotsi was grilled on aspects of his testimony, with the chief evidence leader, Advocate Matthew Chaskalson, accusing him of lying to the commission under oath.
The interrogation follows Mogotsi’s captivating testimony, where he levelled a series of sensational and occasionally far-fetched claims before the commission probing criminality, political meddling and corruption in South Africa’s justice system.
Among the claims was that he was a SAPS Crime Intelligence agent and that KZN police commissioner Nhanhla Mkhwanazi and Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini were recruited by the CIA.
Mogotsi has been accused of being the go-between for sidelined police minister Senzo Mchunu and alleged crime boss Vusimuzi Matlala, who is alleged to have made payments towards Mchunu’s ANC presidency campaign and paid off several top cops.
Questions over Mogotsi’s credibility surfaced in an affidavit he submitted to a police colonel in support of an application to conduct an undercover police trap targeting Mkhwanazi, who had, according to Mogotsi, wanted to remove Crime Intelligence’s Major General Feroz Khan, head of counter and security intelligence for the SAPS, from his position.
Mogotsi lied and said he worked in the Ministry of Police. He didn’t tell the Hawks approving officer that he was an alleged Crime Intelligence agent.
Chaskalson then put it to him that, as an “agent”, Mogotsi appeared to believe it was acceptable to “lie under oath if necessary for the mission”.
“It is not okay to lie under oath. I lied because I could not tell him that I’m an agent. It was for the purposes of the work,” he said.
Chaskalson stressed that lying under oath in the affidavit amounted to perjury.
Another claim viewed as a deliberate misdirection tactic was Mogotsi’s allegation that Mkhwanazi and King Misuzulu were working for the CIA. Chaskalson noted that these claims struck him as nothing more than a diversion.
Chaskalson also dismissed Mogotsi’s allegations that Matlala paid bribes to Mkhwanazi and Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola, calling them yet another deliberate misdirection.
He said: “We have been through Matlala’s cellphone, and he is hardly discreet about his improper relationships with senior SAPS members in his WhatsApp communications. We have seen plenty of evidence in the chats of Matlala paying SAPS members to assist him.”
When Chaskalson put it to him that the cellphone had been proven authentic and not tampered with, Mogotsi had no convincing answer. Chaskalson said the explanation made Mogotsi’s version “incredibly implausible”.
The Judicial Commission of Inquiry continues to probe the criminality, political interference and corruption in the criminal justice system in South Africa.