If you are looking for a serious deliberation on the quite frankly embarrassing conviction of former police commissioner and ex-Interpol chief Jackie Selebi, then you my friend are at the wrong place.
If however you, just like me are flabbergasted at just how little it took to bring down a man who had access to so much power and influence, then welcome. Yes my friends, I am not here to debate the merits of Selebi’s trial and verdict, just one simple thing- R1,2 million.
Really Jackie? Chief of police in SA, chief of Interpol, hobnobbing with the rich and powerful, courted, I imagine, by a globally connected criminal network for your connections and influence, and you are brought down for just over a million ronts? That is not even a decent Lotto jackpot. You have as unrefined and unlikeable a friend and confidante as Glenn Agliotti? Of all the scumbags, bandits and criminal types in the world, Glenn Agliotti? Is that really the best you could do?
I am jaded and cynical enough to almost expect high-ranking bureaucrats like yourself to be covertly corrupt. In fact I believe illicit connections and activity do a lot more to further the global economy and international relations than we know. Quite frankly I almost do not care, unless of course it affects me.
Joaquin Guzman for one, easily the world’s most wanted drug-trafficking fugitive, and a man so wanted by authorities that there is a $5 million bounty on his head. He is ranked by Forbes as the 41st most powerful man in the world, and I am pretty sure he would welcome refuge in SA. I think he’d like our climate, red wines, freely available marijuana and could settle quite nicely in Bedfordview with the rest of the criminal underworld’s top figures — and improve the quality of Colombian marching powder being consumed in Rosebank bar toilets.
Or maybe Semion Mogilevich, the public face of organised crime in Russia. He is white, fat, greasy looking and doesn’t project an image of a cerebrally competent person, but hey, that is exactly your type isn’t it sir? He is wanted for everything from racketeering, murder, human trafficking to securities fraud in excess of $150 million. Hear that? $150 million. Imagine getting, oh say 1% of that loot in return for looking after his global interest? I tell you what, if you had him in your pocket or vice-versa, maybe he could have even arranged for those pesky Scorpions to aim their sting elsewhere? No? If you must go Italian, Matteo Messina Denaro is your man. Youngish, urbane, handsome and a lover of fashion, the Mafia’s current capo di tutti capi may well be the one. Or could have been, rather. You could have easily satisfied your retail therapy urges and maybe managed to top the law-enforcement sartorial pops.
But no, you chose Glenn “worst witness in the world” Agliotti to be your downfall, and shamed us as well along the way. I tell you, if our police chief had been in bed with world-renowned criminals, maybe South Africa would have enhanced its reputation as a sophisticated first world economy. We already have a reputable banking and IT sector. Our international fugitive list is still very much full of B-grade criminal types like Jurgen Harksen and Radovan Krejcir. You could have gotten us into the big leagues. Could. Have.
Thanks for nothing Mr Selebi. But if you do manage to successfully appeal your conviction, give some thought on how you could make this up to us.
LOL, nice one, poor guy though, can’t imagine a father of someone going down that way. It’s just seems wrong.
He better bring out more corrupt people, he should not go down alone.
Slowly but surely we need to expose all the corruption in SA and maybe our country will make it in the end and not end up like the rest of Africa.
This is perhaps the best analysis of the ANC corruption saga I have read so far! They are petty, inefficient and totally unethical.
Trouble is, we are paying for this in loss of life, lack of security, loss of jobs, poor health care and countless other ways. Consider that our average life span has dropped from 72 years under Apartheid to just 49 years under the glorious ANC. The ruthlessly efficient Apartheid police needed just 17 policemen per 10 000 while our totally dysfunctional SAPS has 36 per 10 000 and we have an additional private police force of almost 20 per 10 000. Out Government has lost well over 2.5 million jobs in the last 14 years.
All so the ANC cadre could enrich themselves, often in very petty ways.
I blame the NPA (read Gel Nel) for making & trusting a scum like Agglioti to be the state witness
It is sad, isn’t it?
We have to spend upward of 10 million to prove that this man is cheap!
Something wrong there – somewhere – but I’ll be a son of the morning if I know what!
Oh yes – btw – nice article, tickled my funny bone [and boy do we need this in this sea of depravity and ....]
Interesting piece,I agree 1.2 mil,I was wondering how much he earned to to accept such bribes
Had a good chuckle reading this…A day before his conviction I told my wife that If Selebi is convicted it would only prove how stupid he is…Head of Interpol and you might soon be Ananias Mathe’s neighbour. How foolish doses that make him appear and you are right it make us look so cheap. Unless the scorpions could get further than the R1.2m That latter view would make me sleep better, but doubt it
Yeah! I also found it ironic, but I guess that it’ll be only once we can add all the individual millions together that we’ll really know how bad this thing is. And I absolutely bet that JS is cursing himself for gaining so little for all his incumbant pain. And next time SARS demands ten or twelve extra cents from me, I may just demand a jihad!
What if all this top criminals come for you Siyabonga? Who is going to protect you?
The state wasted all those millions to prosecute selebi for R1.2 mil? There’s gotta be more!
Good point
R1,200,000 is that all? Are you sure? We do not and may never know the full story. This would make a good thriller and would sell millions if Selebi wrote a true self biography. Perhaps a publisher should approach him to do this and expose the full extent of the den of theives that he found himself in. The income could support his family in the manner in which he had hoped if his crimes had not been exposed. How many remain unexposed?
They say everyone has a price. The issue is how people determine their own worth. Bribers will rarely pay more than the corruptee’s request. I remember a security guy who was given about R1,000 by thieves who stole goods worth more than R250,000.00 and the fellow also lost his R6,000.00 a month salary. I figure the dude calculated his needs at that time and maybe R300.00 for drinks for him and his friends.
Trouble with bribery is that it is called anything from lunch money to “you will buy yourself a drink”. The bribe is usually not specific but is in advance, to saddle the other party with indebtedness, owing a reciprocating gesture.
Now about Selebi’s price, using maybe a theory more or less similar to the relative income hypothesis, his aspirations are guided mainly by the best of the income league he plays in, it is more of keeping or being the best of his lot than leaving the league. He did not want a new big house (wealth) he wanted displayable money and “style”. Hence his fondness for trinkets, fancy dining, clothing labels and the odd confiscated 4 wheel drive that he did not own and had questionable right to be seen in. This is not strange, it happens in service provider selection in private and public sectors. You would be surprised at the pitance received by some officials who rig multi-million rand tenders.
Its the horse and the rider.
nice very nice enjoyed reading it.
@Siyabonga
That’s nothing, mate – what about the President of a country, who *allegedly* took bribes to the value of R500,000 per annum (the bribor was convicted on numerous counts of bribery and corruption, which conviction was upheld on appeal so he clearly bribed *someone*)
I am amazed that Zuma did not use that argument in his “defence” in the media and court of public opinion (the only court likely to ever get a shot at him!) – ie “people, these claims are nonesense – do you honestly think that I could be bought by international arms Dealers in a multi-billion rand arms deal for half a bar a year and a few minor expenses?
If I was going to acept bribes from arms deals, I would take hundreds of millions and put it in numbered Swiss bank accounts”.
Do you honestly think that I could be that stupid, cheap and greedy as to accept bribes for such a small amount?
Anyone that has read the transcript of the Shaik trial and the 783 charge sheet against Zuma will unfortunately conclude that YES, he appartently IS that stupid (and cheap!)
@ Siyabonga
What Selebi weas charged with could be the whole quantum of his criminal activities, or just the tip of the Iceberg.
The way that it works is that the Prosecuting authorities prosecute on the basis of the solid and provable evidence that they have, notwithstanding the fact that they may have lots of evidence of other crime that is insufficient or unable to stand up to scrutiny at trial.
We saw during and after the Shaik trial that the unlawful activities for which he was prosecuted were the tip of the iceberg.
Petty criminals at trial often ask for a host of other similar crimes that they admit to,to be taken into consideration during sentencing.
The reason is they do not want the police to find out about their other crimes that were unknown to the police at the time, whislt they are serving their sentence, otherwise they could end up straight back in court on new charges once they have served their sentences, or during their incarceration!
I wonder ow much Selebi will earn to write a self exposé on his whole sordid career. He clearly can’t risk it to bribe anyone again — or, perhaps maybe he can. Who knows how may seedy untold stories still lurk in the dark shadows in his vicinity somewhere? Something that makes for a page turning thriller, perhaps?
What I am sure of though, is that the publishers will queue for the rights on the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And Selebi’s love for money knows no bounds. And perhaps this time he can make some real money. I do believe the book will fly off the shelves.
Perhaps this explains the unwillingness to prosecute JZ for an alleged R500,000 bribe?
Selebi, like Cele now, was just a political deployee. He knows very little about policing. The harm they do is that their behaviour trickles down into the SAPS