Quinton Mtyala
COMMUNITY Safety MEC Dan Plato will not say how he got introduced to an “informant” who, in an affidavit, claims he wanted to spill the beans on his dealings with the likes of Radovan Krejcir and Glen Agliotti, who owed him R749 000.
Plato has been accused by the ANC of masterminding a smear campaign against deputy provincial police commissioner Jeremy Vearey. A former Umkhonto we Sizwe guerrilla, Vearey has been open about his support for the ANC.
Now Plato says the surfacing of the affidavit from Pierre Theron was part of a plot by the ANC to destabilise the DA-controlled provincial government.
Theron claims he met Plato for the first time in June 2012 at the Dros restaurant in Stellenbosch, claiming he was a member of a crime syndicate involved in various crimes, including drugs, assassinations, human trafficking, abalone smuggling, prostitution and the illegal trade in rhino horn.
The 61-year-old George resident claimed, in an affidavit in 2013, that the syndicate had police officials and those working in the Justice Department in their pocket.
The Hawks are investigating Theron’s claims and would not comment yesterday.
In a later affidavit, from October 2015, Theron claimed Krejcir had paid deputy provincial police commissioner Jeremy Vearey a total of R6 million without explaining what these payments were for.
According to the earlier affidavit, Plato had during their second and third meeting asked Theron to collect information about top police officers and politicians.
Theron claims he handed Plato a “3cm-thick file” which contained information about the crime syndicate to which he belonged and its activities. In exchange Plato promised “a large amount of money” by the end of October 2012. This money never materialised, according to Theron’s affidavit.
Among Theron’s claims is that he tipped off Plato about a large drug haul coming through Cape Town International Airport. The information was forwarded to then provincial commissioner Arno Lamoer by Plato and when Theron demanded payment, he was told he would be unmasked as an informant.
Theron claims he sent numerous SMSes to Plato’s personal cellphone, threatening to go to the police and the media over the mishandling of information he had passed on.
“I had planned to report my problems with Dan Plato, who wouldn’t respond to my text messages, to Premier (Helen) Zille, the state president, local and international media, and my lawyers.”
Prior to that Plato had initially paid Theron R1 500 for a cellphone during their first meeting in June 2012, and subsequently deposited R4 000 on July 11; R10 000 on July 17; R600 on October 2; R1 000 on October 8; R1 000 on October 15; R2 500 on October 29; R1 000 on November 1; R400 on December 24; and R400 on January 8, 2013 into his Nedbank account.
Asked about the payments, Plato would not say what they were for, but earlier told Die Burger these were to cover Theron’s medical expenses “because he was ill”. He accused the Western Cape ANC of trying to destabilise the province through empty threats and hollow allegations.
“It is of utmost importance that the Hawks investigation into the affidavits continues without interference from any police official, political party or media representative,” said Plato.
“I continue to honour the commitment made to the police minister and the national police commissioner to refrain from further media statements on the contents of the allegations and enable the Hawks to complete their investigation.”
He said provincial police commissioner Khombinkosi Jula had inherited a police service where SAPS officers’ involvement with criminal activities had gone unchecked.