Sandiso Phaliso and ANA
THE provincial ANC launched an official complaint against DA Community Safety MEC Dan Plato at the Cape Town Central police station yesterday.
It followed a dispute revolving around Plato, one of his informers and senior police official Major- General Jeremy Vearey.
In an affidavit leaked to the media, Plato’s informer accused Vearey of having accepted a multimillion-rand bribe from Czech underworld figure Radovan Krejcir.
Vearey denied the accusation, stating he would welcome an investigation into the matter. The ANC, meanwhile, has thrown its weight behind Vearey, a former Umkhonto we Sizwe fighter and bodyguard to Nelson Mandela.
Explaining why the provincial ANC had laid an official complaint, provincial executive committee member Rhoda Bazier said: “What he (Plato) is doing is immoral. He has put lives in danger, and he is smearing the ANC’s name.”
“We are not tolerating this any more,” she said.
Bazier said the affidavit against Vearey had been made in Plato’s office and, from there, should have been speedily conveyed to the police.
“Instead, Plato determined that he would leak the information to embarrass the ANC.”
Bazier said the naming of Vearey and its alleged media leaking had put Vearey’s life in danger. She said it was a breach of Plato’s oath of office to protect and serve.
“You don’t put police officials’ lives in danger. This contributes to police killings,” she said, adding that the ANC was hoping the Hawks and the public prosecutor would “thoroughly investigate” the matter.
Police spokesperson Frederick van Wyk said a case of perjury and defeating the ends of justice had been registered for investigation. No arrests have been made. He said the identities of the respective parties involved could not be disclosed.
Plato welcomed the charges against him, saying he would co-operate with any legitimate investigation. He said the contents of the information provided to him in affidavits indicated corruption and criminal activity within the police and ANC political links to gangs.
Plato said anyone responsible for any illegal activity would have to face the full might of the law: “My actions in office have always been above board, transparent and in the best interest of the safety of communities in the Western Cape.”
He described the ANC’s allegations as half-truths and concocted conspiracies. He said they were a desperate attempt to deflect attention away from how much they feature in the affidavits supplied to his office.
“All the recent affidavits and the allegations contained in them are of a serious nature and the Hawks need to be allowed to investigate their contents, as the National Minister of Police has requested,” he said.