Zille never knew ‘spook’ was a cop

Premier Helen Zille

Premier Helen Zille

Published Nov 26, 2015

Share

Quinton Mtyala

PREMIER Helen Zille has told the Western Cape legislature that she had only met under-fire crime intelligence cop Paul Scheepers once in 2010 when she handed him her cellphone for “debugging” and never knew he was a policeman.

She was responding to a question from the ANC’s Pierre Uys about her relationship with the man who has been dubbed “Zille’s spook”.

Zille also explained for the first time how the “debugging” was done.

“The Western Cape government made use of the services of Eagle Eye Solutions Technologies to ensure that the cellphones of cabinet members and the director-general had not been tapped, and to encrypt sim cards to reduce the likelihood that these cellphones were vulnerable to surveillance,” said Zille.

Scheepers, suspended from the SAPS, is facing charges in the Bellville Regional Court of fraud, perjury, and contravening the Electronic Communications Act after his arrest on May 8. He’s out on R2 000 bail.

He has also filed an application with the Western Cape High Court to have his equipment, seized in raids on business and work premises, to be returned to him.

The Hawks have also indicated that they would be investigating Scheepers and how he came into the possession of a “grabber” machine, which has the ability to intercept cellphone communications within a specified radius.

In the legislature, Zille said the context in which Scheepers’s company was hired was due to concerns from several quarters that the former National Intelligence Agency was conducting surveillance on her cabinet in 2009.

Zille said despite the ANC filing a criminal complaint against her, there was nothing in the National Strategic Intelligence Act which prohibited the provincial government, or any government department, from using the services of private security contractors.

Zille said she and her cabinet colleagues were unaware that Scheepers was a serving police officer when his company won a tender with the provincial government. This despite the fact that police sources have told the Cape Times that former Community Safety MEC Lennit Max was well aware of Scheepers’ status as a police officer.

Max, a former provincial police commissioner, has refused to publicly comment on the Scheepers matter.

Zille’s denial prompted ANC leader Marius Fransman to exclaim: “You are lying,” which he was later forced to withdraw by deputy Speaker Piet Pretorius.

Related Topics: