As the National Prosecuting Authority bask in the afterglow of having obtained a conviction against former top cop Jackie Selebi in Johannesburg on Wednesday, the time has come to put into perspective the price that was paid by South Africans in order to obtain it.
As things stand the former police commissioner is facing 15 years, for a conviction on corruption, handed down by South Gauteng High Court Judge Meyer Joffe subject to Selebi’s appeal proving to be unsuccessful.
In isolation I have no difficulty in accepting that a man who was in the position of police chief and head of Interpol and then accepts money from gangsters should be sent to prison for an extended period. That is undoubtedly the just reward for his conduct.
The problem arises when one looks at what is going on in Court 4C of the South Gauteng High Court. There the self-confessed murderers of mining magnate Brett Kebble are all about to walk away scot free because the prosecution team in Selebi were prepared to sacrifice those convictions — and more — in order to nail the former police chief.
In order to put pressure on Glenn Agliotti and thereby Selebi, deals were done which resulted in them obtaining Section 204 indemnities.
Not one deal but for all of them.
As someone who has practised as a criminal attorney for many years I can honestly put my hand on heart and say that I have never seen all the accused, other than the principle suspect, being indemnified. If I say that even two out of four would be laughed out of the control prosecutor’s office I’m understating it — he’d be swearing at me for even suggesting more than one be indemnified.
Accordingly the deals done in the Brett Kebble murder are — to say the least — mystifying.
Those Section 204s are legally binding and protect the perpetrators of murder and, as we are learning, many other crimes way beyond corruption. None of them will be convicted and none of them face a sentence of even a single day for crimes that dwarf anything Selebi is accused of.
Though it is a job well done by their attorneys it’s nothing short of disgraceful by those who agreed to it.
The war between the police and the Scorpions was an ugly, bitter conflict in which the interests of the country were the last thing on anyone’s mind. All that mattered was taking out the leadership of each other and South Africans just have to accept the consequences of it.
Today Selebi got 15 years in order to achieve it, tomorrow the worst type of murderers and drug dealers will be walking the streets courtesy of the people who obtained that conviction.
In context Selebi is not a triumph for justice but the price we have been forced to pay for allowing a vendetta to outweigh common sense or the interests of the country.
Please find below a link to a cartoon for your recent ‘Selebi: A triumph of justice’ post:
Jackie Selebi – Crime in South Africa CartOOn!
I must say Traps, the power struggle between scorpions and police will cost us dearly in the near future if not already!
thats really something to digest there!
Traps, surely you noticed that only two people, neither of whom could be labelled “the worst kind of criminal” were granted immunity in the Selebi judgement? Agliotti is not off the hook!
The fish rots from the head – I think drastic steps were justified in nailing a corrupt chief of police. Nassif et al are bottom feeders – terrible that they go free but I would give up 100 of them for one crooked chief of police.
If press reports are accurate, it doesn’t look like there’s much danger of Nassif getting his indemnity.
Sir Traps,
You must be joking. According to your blind support of Pikoli and the scorpions, it is NOBLE and a VIRTUE to let go all drug dealers and murderers to the SA community, provided Jackie Selebi was convicted. Only now you wonder why crime such as murder is so high!!!The chickens have come home to roost.
I always maintained that the scorpions (and NPA)could not crack any case solely through their investigation skills. They manipulated their so-called high conviction rates by selectings only high profile political cases wherein they could grant criminals indemnity.
You allowed yourself to be fooled by the scorpions and NPA and you thought what ever they touched turned to gold. You cannot have it both ways. Blame the scorpions segregation of duties conflict because they had investigative and prosecuratorial functions that lead to this. They abused their prosecutorial privileges to hide their investigative ineptitude whilst you cheered them on.
Thank you. What a breath of fresh air amid the stench wafting out of court 4C. It was good to read some common sense and a sane perspective on this sordid story.
I believe Selebi got nailed beacuse he was out of favour with the current regime. Had he been a Zuma man the whole course of the case would have been different. I don’t share your apparent belief that not nailing the gang of thugs who are being given indemnity is worse than not nailing political crooks. I think we will see lots of nailing criminals under Field Marshal The Don Bheki Cele but we will see very little prosecution of government looters, tenderpreneurs, thieves and their private enterprise cohorts as long as they’re in the current regime’s good books (which means while they’re donating to the ANC, sharing the loot and not aiming for leadership roles). Where there are prosecutions, it’ll be of the “out-of-favour” or the “ambitious”.
BTW, I don’t mean Selebi’s case in court. The judge will still have judged. I mean the prosecution would have mysteriously “lost its way” (and its dockets).
I recommend that Selebi be given a Presidential Pardon, if he turns states witness on all the corruption, greed and theft that is going on in Government and the Police Force. I think we would all give a years salary to hear the real truth on drugs, cable theft, bribes, armed robberies, heists, tender rigging, price fixing, vote rigging, intimidation and what all.
Of course this will never happen because it will open a can of worms and even our previous president may find himself drowning in crocodiles. In any event the new laws of suppression of the press will ensure that we never hear about it even if Selebi did come out into the open and tell it all. At one time it was alleged that Selebi had his henchmen in every police station throughout the land. If this is true then who are his accomplices and why should Selebi take the fall for all of them? Will we ever know? I doubt it. Was justice done? Partially, but the tip of the iceberg is not enough, we have to sink the whole iceberg.
I agree. The indemnities have been reduced to ‘Get Out Of Jail Free” cards on the political game board.
What bothered me–and a lot of other people–was the relatively small scale of Selebi’s corruption compared with other ANC and YL cash-aholics.
I shall be very surprised to see Selebi serve even one day in prison, however. Having allowed so many criminals to claim indemnity, there are many grounds for Appeal, including mis-trial. This saga is far from over.
It also makes one wonder whether–apart from being a surrogate for Mbeki–Selebi was used as a ‘red herring’ to deflect our attention from the really BIG fish, Jabba The Hutt and his cronies at the top of food chain.
Selebi was a chief cog in the “Mbeki” faction machine, which is why he was hung out to dry and the charges against him were not “withdrawn”.
Had the accused been part of the Zuma clique, the indemnities for all the Agliotti clan would not have been given, and the case wold have floundered owing to insufficient evidence – if the charges were not withdrawn in the first place.
You are absolutely right that once again a travesty of justice has taken place in our criminal justice system, but in the bigger scheme of things, SA society is probably better off having a corrupt Chief of Police who has influence over the whole country and the whole Police force removed at the expense of letting off a few local gangsters with far less pervasive influence, than the other way round.
Just as was the case with Schabir Shaik, the crimes for which Selebi were convicted were the tip of the iceberg.
By the way, in all your years as a practicing criminal attorney, how many of your clients had 783 charges against them withdrawn?
I agree wholeheartedly…. Coming from a position of no legal training whatsoever, I am astonished that the evidence of people like Clinton Nasif, Glen Aglioti and the rest is given any credence in a Court of Law. These men wouldn’t know the truth if it came up and punched him square between the eyes – the other men granted indemnity are no better. Not only will they get off scott free but Cinton Nasif blatantly lied in Court! Is he going to be charged for contempt at least? Aglioti was dubious at best in the Selebi Trial – the guy is linked to every evil known to man – why would he actually tell the truth in Court? His life is one big lie – a continuous procession of the most heinous crimes known to man. Worse still, was he and were they given license and coached to lie in Court by the Scorpions/NPA simply to get Selebi? Turning to Selebi – he irreparably compromised a life of selfless devotion to the gaining of freedom for RSA and severely let down his President, Thabo Mbeki, who had no reason to disbelieve him when he initially claimed (and obviously still claims) innocence. His struggle credentials were impeccable and he was held in the highest regard in RSA the world over to the extent of being appointed as head of Interpol and receiving the most prestigious human rights award from the UN. At the time I would have believed him! How sad! The love of money!
Just watch! Selebi will get out of jail free, if only he gets there eventually. There’s a pattern seen in Shabir Shaik, Tony Yengeni, Rasool, etc. Once censured, you are destined for better things…
Traps I think you attach too little weight to what it means to a society to have a crooked cop in charge – and what it takes to topple him. Some difficult choices obviously had to be made. I am more interested in the big fish. If Mbeki did suspend Pikoli to prevent him from arresting Selebi, was Mbeki not guilty of defeating, or attempting to defeat, the course of justice?
Madoda you must have me confused with someone else.
I was against this from the start and have never changed my mind.
Nice thing is all my previous posts are up so tell me where I supported the deal.
As for the Scorpions this does not detract from my belief that they should not have been disbanded.
just that wshoever did Selebi needs to answer LOTS of questions.
Indemnities under section 204 are only binding if the evidence so acquired is accepted by the trial judge and a discharge of the witness is noted on the court file by the judge. Agliotti did not satisfy Judge Joffe and will not enjoy indemnity from being prosecuted for his corrupt activities with Selebi. Nassif seem to be facing a similar fate if reports of his cross examination are accurate.
The problem with these particular criminals who have been given indemnity is that they are involved in drug smuggling, murder and attempted murder (Mildendorf) – drug peddling destroys lives, families and communities….. it kills kids and adults, some as young as nine or ten. It destroys the fabric of society. Jackie Selebi was found guilty of corruption in the amount of R230,000 which, whilst absolutely shocking and rightly punished is not really significant in the whole scheme of things. Sipiwe Njanda it seems spends far more on luxury hotels when he has a house down the road. The NPA, with all their legal reach, informer networks, political connectivity in terms of links to the JZ block and indemnities offered to serious criminals, were unable to prove that he had defeated the ends of justice so Selebi was not convicted on that charge. In my legally compromised opinion that means he took the money and gave nothing in return. So was the trade really worthwhile? Not in my humble opinion. That said, Selebi has disappointed on all sides displaying not one ounce of remorse or humility. That love of money seems to have reduced him to a mere shadow of the man he was in the struggle days and up till he took over as the top cop. Tragic really!
You have it spot-on there Traps. This is precisely my problem with this whole excitement over the Selebi conviction. Yes, corruption is a cancer that is destroying our society, and those who’re are guilty must face the music. But indeed one must also always ask the question, at what cost? if the costs is human life, then there can’t be a reason any greater. Murderers indeed going scot-free because the NPA was obsessed with nailing a cop who was corrupt. That’s just so wrong!
Mbeki suspended Pikoli because he was not prepared to give him (Mbeki) two weeks to prepare the nation for the suspension of “the top cop” – presumably there were discussions to be had with cabinet and decisions to be made as to who would be the best person to take over in the circumstances. Was that too much to ask? At no point did Mbeki refuse to suspend Selebi or try and call off Pikoli or stop Selebi from being tried for corruption. Selebi was suspended, he was charged and went to trial – now he has been convicted.
Agliotti had to be punished for disobeying orders and failing to follow the script on Selebi. Pure Mafia justice.
A good post, because it encourages people to ask questions. Unfortunately there is very little that we can do to change the situation.
Carl Wille
If Mbeki believed Selebi when he claimed his innocence what makes him an assesory to the crime? Can you also say the same thing about Interpol? Only Mbeki must answer and not Interpol? Very interesting submission from your part, very interesting indeed
Excellent article Traps.. all that needs to happen now is that Selebi gets out on appeal… then everyone is free