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Political meddling is seen as the reason behind the unprecedented battle that has erupted, throwing the spotlight on factions within the leadership
State Security Minister Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba has lobbied the ANC top six for support in her fierce fight with secretary-general Ace Magashule, himself part of the powerful structure.
The unprecedented battle between the man who controls the ANC’s nerve centre and the political head of the country’s intelligence agency burst into the open last week, with Magashule issuing a stinging attack on Letsatsi-Duba, whom he accused of peddling information that he had tampered with the ANC’s election list.
Those close to Letsatsi-Duba told City Press that she requested a meeting with ANC officials.
She sent the request to Magashule – and copied it to the other members of the top six, including President Cyril Ramaphosa.
She intends to set the record straight about claims that she accused Magashule of manipulating the list.
The petition to the ANC top brass comes as Letsatsi-Duba has been on the back foot in her Pretoria office.
Ramaphosa’s high-level panel review report into the State Security Agency (SSA) has been met with resistance by some elements in the agency who suspect the probe was designed to target associates of Letsatsi-Duba’s predecessor, David Mahlobo, and the former director-general of the SSA, Arthur Fraser.
An anonymous complaint has also been filed against Letsatsi-Duba before Parliament’s joint standing committee on intelligence.
It includes allegations that she hired at least three family members in her office.
Four independent agency sources told City Press that Letsatsi-Duba had also been accused of using a chartered plane for private business at the SSA’s expense and of approving bodyguards for her adviser, in contravention of the ministerial handbook.
Magashule’s rebuke of Letsatsi-Duba was seen as part of a “coordinated attack” on her, coming a day after Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane opened a criminal case against her for refusing to hand over a “declassified” investigative report allegedly implicating Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan in claims of the existence of a so-called rogue unit at the SA Revenue Service (Sars).
In reponse to questions, Letsatsi-Duba’s spokesperson, Lebohang Mafokosi, said: “The minister of state security is executing her duties without fear or favour, as mandated by the Constitution and within the prescripts of the laws of South Africa.
“She will not be intimidated by those who are attempting to derail the critical task of rooting out rampant corruption in the SSA and ensuring that a professional intelligence service is re-established and recalibrated to serve the country and its people.”
The claims and counterclaims have pitted Letsatsi-Duba against Mkhwebane and Magashule in a proxy battle in which Ramaphosa seeks to assert his control, amid huge resistance in government and within his own party.
Intelligence insiders said Letsatsi-Duba was suspicious that Mkhwebane, who told her that a copy of the same report was leaked to her office by unknown sources, had long made findings against Gordhan and his former Sars colleagues, and “simply needs permission from the minister to legitimise her report”.
Letsatsi-Duba’s allies were also sympathetic to Gordhan, saying nothing stopped the office of the inspector-general of intelligence, which conducted the investigation in 2014, from calling him in for an interview, “and that did not happen”.
ANC spokesperson Dakota Legoete said they had no record of Letsatsi-Duba’s request to meet the party’s top six.
He added that claims that Magashule and his team changed the list prior to its submission to the Electoral Commission of SA (IEC) were “devoid of any truth”, because it was his responsibility to verify that all the information was correct before it was handed to the IEC.
The list has been crticised for being overpopulated with controversial names and tainted individuals.
Legoete said that in 2016 there were technical mistakes during the capturing of the list on the IEC electronic system.
“We cannot afford to leave anything to chance, nor to be found wanting on this critical process,” said Legoete.
Failure to check and verify would have amounted to a dereliction of duty on the part of Magashule, he said.
The verification included correcting the spelling of names and incorrect identity numbers, and it also allowed parties to remove candidates who appeared on lists of more than one registered party.
SPIES TAILING MAGASHULE
In Magashule’s camp, deep suspicions linger that Letsatsi-Duba is abusing her powers. These include claims that spies are tailing both Magashule and Mkhwebane.
City Press heard claims that Magashule was followed on the day he went to the IEC offices to submit the ANC list.
A Luthuli House source said Mkhwebane could also be on the SSA’s radar.
“The intelligence services might have been used to spy on the Public Protector. This can only be verified after investigation by the police,” said the source.
The source said Mahlobo and his predecessor, Siyabonga Cwele, were also accused of using intelligence services against political opponents, adding that “it is still the same problem”.
Oupa Segalwe, spokesperson for the Public Protector, said Mkhwebane’s case against Letsatsi-Duba did not contain any claims of spying.
But SSA sources said Letsatsi-Duba and her team were also being followed because the cars and surveillance equipment allegedly bought by the rogue Special Operations Unit under Mahlobo were “still out there and people are using them”.
City Press heard, for example, that Letsatsi-Duba refused to occupy the agency’s house which had been allocated to her because it was suspected of being “a trap”.
A new process for the minister to get a house through the department of public works is under way.
ANC LIST GOING TO NEC?
City Press learnt that the SSA had “informally” been asked to help the ANC vet its election candidates because of concerns about Magashule.
The requests were declined, said a highly placed insider.
The insider said the ANC list submitted to the IEC was questioned in many party circles, and a strong push was under way to get its national executive committee to intervene at its next meeting.
There was also concern that the stacking of the list was not in Ramaphosa’s interests and could be used later to impeach him.
Legoete said pictures doing the rounds on social media, showing Magashule working on the list, were part of the verification work – and, he said, “there were more than 10 parties at the IEC Centurion offices doing the same”.
“We appreciate that many comrades ... have ambitions [and] it is understandable that some will not be happy when their names do not make the final cut.”
Legoete said aggrieved members could raise their concerns internally, but “we must reiterate that no ANC member has a birthright to be an MP or a member of the provincial legislature”.
Regarding the North West list, Legoete said the ANC was informed by the court decision that had declared the former provincial task team and all its decisions to be illegal, and had to “ensure that the lists should reflect the unity of ANC branches, accommodate the alliance – in particular, Cosatu – and add a few names to reflect unity”.
“We are satisfied that no lists were changed. Clearly, we are dealing with a disinformation campaign against the ANC’s list and the election campaign.”
Legoete said it was disappointing for Letsatsi-Duba, “a minister entrusted with state security, to be at the centre of conspicuously unfounded tales”.
IEC spokesperson Kate Bapela said the cutoff time for the submission of candidate lists was 5pm on March 13 2019 and that “before the cutoff time, it is competent for a party to check, amend or reconfirm candidates on the lists”.
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