Former spy boss Billy Masetlha was described by Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils on Wednesday as "misleading" and someone to be "wary" of.
Kasrils was giving testimony in the Pretoria specialised commercial crimes court about his former Director-General.
The minister took the stand after the end of an in-camera session in the morning.
This was in response to defence lawyer advocate Neil Tuchten's question to the minister as to when he started to wonder whether Masetlha was trustworthy.
"I am very pleased with the question.
"I was not aware of the surveillance of businessman Saki Macozoma at the end of 2005," Kasrils told the court.
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"I heard nothing from the Director-General," he said.
He said he became wary of Masetlha after asking him for a report about the Macozoma issue.
"I began to become extremely wary... I asked Masetlha for a report," said Kasrils.
After this he asked the Inspector-general to convene an investigation into the matter.
"His findings were alarming. Masetlha and two other NIA people had sought to mislead the minister," said Kasrils.
Kasrils referred to the Presidential Special Investigation team set up by the president in 2004 to look into leaks in the media.
He said he had experienced some difficulty in receiving the report on the matter after Masethla took over from Vusi Mavimbela.
Tuchten argued that his client did not receive any word from the minister telling him that a report was necessary.
Touching on whether Masetlha could be trusted, Kasrils referred to the Khampepe Commission to which the NIA had to make a submission.
He said Masetlha had drafted the initial submission to the commission but that after he had viewed it, he asked that it be reviewed.
Among some of the things mentioned in the report, were the names of certain individuals who were training with foreign intelligence services.
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