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Julius Malema
Former treasurer-general of the ANC, Mathews Phosa, allegedly
organised for his former house manager to meet Economic Freedom Fighters leader,
Julius Malema.
The house manager, Jan Venter, revealed this during
cross-examination in the Northern Gauteng High Court today.
Venter’s testimony seemed to suggest that Phosa had been dishonest
to the ANC and that he had established a relationship with the opposition.
Phosa is defending a R10-million defamation lawsuit that Mpumalanga
premier David Mabuza filed after Phosa submitted an intelligence report to ANC
deputy secretary-general, Jessie Duarte, that alleged that Mabuza was an
apartheid spy – code-named PN485.
According to the report, Mabuza worked with notorious apartheid
killers – former Vlakplaas commander Eugene de Kock and security police officer
Butana Nofomela – and spied on senior ANC leaders, including President Jacob
Zuma, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga and the late Albertina Sisulu,
between 1985 and 1993.
Venter has flip-flopped between supporting Mabuza and Phosa since
the ruckus started in 2014 following his resignation from his job because of a
fallout with his boss.
He initially wrote a sworn statement saying he saw Phosa and his
business associate, Nick Elliot, fabricating the report.
Last year, Venter said Mabuza’s lawyer, Ian Small-Smith, paid him
to lie against Phosa.
They reconciled, but Venter is now testifying for Mabuza after
dumping Phosa for allegedly reneging on his promises to take care of his family
and give him a job.
Venter said that one day Phosa suggested that he should join
politics.
“Dr Phosa said I should consider entering into politics. He
mentioned people that I should meet: [former Democratic Alliance member of
Parliament] Dianne Kohler-Barnard and Julius Malema. That night Dr Phosa’s
associate organised a meeting between me and Malema. We took photos together and
talked outside the boardroom after our meeting,” said Venter.
Venter said he posted the photos on Facebook but Phosa’s personal
assistant instructed him to remove them.
When Phosa’s senior counsel, Mike Maritz, challenged Venter to
reveal what he and Malema spoke about, he asked to talk “in camera”.
“We all know how Malema is and I can’t say what he asked me to do
in an open court,” Venter said.
Phosa has dismissed Mabuza’s lawsuit as an attempt to avoid
investigation into the allegations in the spy document he submitted to
Duarte.
The court adjourned until tomorrow. Venter will continue to testify
as Maritz interrogates him on two contradicting affidavits he wrote to try to
expose him for being a liar after he switched loyalty between the two
politicians.
