Johannesburg - There are fears that confidential State information may have been compromised after two seemingly orchestrated break-ins at the homes of Social Development Minister and ANC Women’s League president Bathabile Dlamini and Communications Minister Faith Muthambi.
The police have confirmed they are investigating the break-ins, which happened at residences that are supposed to enjoy 24-hour protection by highly trained VIP protection officers.
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But police and the ministers involved this week attempted to build a wall of secrecy around the two incidents, which took place at an unspecified suburb in Pretoria on Thursday night.
They have refused to release any further details relating to the two incidents.
It is unclear which items were taken from the homes of these two ministers of President Jacob Zuma’s cabinet.
While sources claimed a third minister’s house had been burgled this week, this could not be verified independently.
Ministers are afforded two state-owned houses, in Cape Town and Pretoria, for the duration of their term in political office.
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The incidents happened during a week in which all cabinet ministers were attending the ANC NEC lekgotla in Pretoria.
Police have indicated they would not release details about the break-in at the ministers’ homes this week as both would have security implications.
“The South African Police Service is not in a position to respond to matters under investigation at this stage, specifically where matters have security implications.
“It can be confirmed that all matters reported will be investigated,” said police spokeswoman Brigadier Mashadi Selepe.
Muthambi’s spokesman, Mish Molakeng, would not give details either, saying the matter was being handled by the police.
“We would not wish to compromise this process,” Molakeng said.
Attempts to contact Dlamini’s spokeswoman, Lumka Oliphant, were unsuccessful.
This is the second high-profile security breach in the country in as many weeks.
The first was the theft of about R17 million in foreign currency at the State Security Agency in November.
One of the suspects who appeared in court this week and was granted R5 000 bail in relation to the housebreaking and theft at the country’s intelligence headquarters is a member of the SAPS VIP protection service, which protects VIPs, including ministers and deputy ministers.
The government spent more than R900m in the 2014/2015 financial year protecting 92 identified VIPs, money which also included 24-hour protection of their homes and offices.
The only security breach reported in the year was a break-in at the Northern Cape provincial legislature.
However, in the 2013/2014 financial year, VIP guards were deployed to 42 government buildings and 90 VIP residences, which include, among others, the homes of ministers, deputy ministers and other members of the political elite.
In spite of this, six security breaches were recorded during this period.
These included housebreaking and theft at the Northern Cape and Western Cape legislatures, housebreaking and theft at unspecified VIP residences in Gauteng, and an armed robbery at a VIP residence, also in Gauteng.
In 2014, a number of break-ins took place at the Hawks and Interpol offices in Pretoria, where the alleged thieves reportedly stole laptops and other devices having used access cards and codes to bypass security and gain entry.
The Sunday Independent