‘Booysen got R10K for dead innocent men’

DURBAN 31032014 Johan Booysen, Wilsons Wharfe. PICTURE: Jacques Naude

DURBAN 31032014 Johan Booysen, Wilsons Wharfe. PICTURE: Jacques Naude

Published Sep 28, 2015

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Durban - Suspended KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss Johan Booysen and the men tasked with investigating a police officer’s assassination have been accused of fraudulently receiving a R10 000 reward for shooting dead six innocent men.

The allegation against Booysen and the men of the Durban Organised Crime Unit in Cato Manor that he commanded is made in an answering affidavit submitted by the newly appointed head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Maj-Gen Berning Ntlemeza, to the Durban High Court.

Ntlemeza further claims that while the award was for tracking down the men who assassinated Superintendent Zethembe Chonco in August 2008, the case numbers used to secure the award were for unrelated cases in Howick of housebreaking and motor vehicle theft.

Booysen was suspended earlier this month for allegedly supplying false case numbers in a bid to obtain the award.

Booysen, however, claims that the document which resulted in him and his men receiving an award for tracking down and killing Chonco’s killers was never drawn up by himself and that he had nothing to do ultimately with the granting of the award.

Chonco was the head of the KwaZulu-Natal taxi violence task team and commander of the Kranskop police station. He and other policemen were escorting four taxi violence suspects from Kranskop to the KwaDukuza (Stanger) Magistrate’s Court when they came under attack on August 27, 2008.

Booysen brought an urgent application in the Durban High Court challenging his suspension in which he alleged that that he was being prevented from doing his job.

In his answering affidavit Ntlemeza said investigations by Colonel Kenneth Molefi Mabuela had found that the motivation for the R10 000 award was for the investigation team’s efforts in tracking down the six men directly involved in Chonco’s assassination.

All six were killed by the investigation team as they were being apprehended.

The six are listed as Dumisani Ndlovu, Lindelani Butthelezi, Nathi Mthembu, Mdu Khopoloto Ntuli and Timson Magojela and his bodyguard.

Ntlemeza also said in his affidavit that the unit initially cleared Magojela and his bodyguard after the pair had been arrested by the Empangeni dog unit, but that 18 days later with no additional evidence the Cato Manor unit then shot Magojela and his bodyguard.’

Referring to the Howick case numbers (CAS106/08/2008 and CAS107/08/200) Ntlemeza said: “These cases have no link whatsoever with the murders of amongst others Timson Magojela Ndimande and his bodyguard.”

Ntlemeza admits in his affidavit that “the manner in which the suspects were killed was subjected to both a criminal and departmental investigation”, but he does not say what the outcome of those investigations was, if any”.

Ntlemeza refuted allegations by Booysen that he had any ulterior motives for ordering the suspension.

He also said that the Durban High Court did not have the authority to hear Booysen’s challenge to the suspension. He said Booysen should have approached the Barganing Council or the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration and not the court.

He said he had a legal obligation to ensure that the investigations were carried out.

Ntlemeza described Booysen as posing “a threat of intimidation of potential witnesses within the employment of the directorate as well as a threat to the safety of the source documents some of which are likely to be in his vicinity and control that may afford evidence of the probed allegations”.

ANA

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