Johannesburg - The Hawks, which targets organised crime, corruption and other serious transgressions, has allegedly been operating a secret rogue unit that is involved in “Vlakplaas-type operations”.
The Sunday Independent has established that the unit, which comprises various members of the Hawks, was apparently involved in the unlawful arrest, torture and detention of 20 Congolese men, including Etienne Kabila, who claims to be the biological son of the former Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) president Laurent Kabila.
It is believed to be the same unit which was involved in conducting renditions (the illegal kidnapping and transfer of prisoners from one country to another) of Zimbabweans.
Kabila’s 19 fellow countrymen were wrongfully arrested on an unidentified farm in Modimolle, Limpopo, in February 2013, a day after they were recruited as “trainee anti-rhino poaching rangers” at the N1 Caltex garage in Midrand, Joburg, by a group of men dressed as game rangers driving branded game vehicles.
The group has turned out to be members of various units within the Hawks, including its highly specialised tactical unit.
The Congolese nationals later faced charges under the Foreign Military Assistance Act. They were accused of amassing a weapons cache to establish an assassin’s training camp and plotting to overthrow President Joseph Kabila of the DRC.
At the time of their arrest, the then-prosecutor in the case, Shaun Abrahams, who is now the National Director of Public Prosecutions, told the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court that Kabila and his 19 fellow countrymen’s elaborate conspiracy had been infiltrated three months earlier and that they had video and audio recordings of their key meetings.
They were said to be members of a Congolese opposition movement, the Union of Nationalists for Renewal (UNR), and their military training was due to start on the morning of their arrests.
The prosecution said evidence gathered in the undercover operation and presented by State witnesses included a “wish list” of weaponry, including 20 surface-to-air missiles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, 5 000 AK47s as well as 50 satellite telephones and $125 000.
Abrahams told the court the conspirators held meetings at several venues, including Zahava’s restaurant in Norwood, Joburg and Maxi’s at the N1 Caltex garage in Midrand.
Two of the men, James Jacob Mapina and Eric Zabinga Mubuto, told The Sunday Independent that they never knew each other or met before their arrest. They claimed they were the victims of a conspiracy between Kinshasa and the SAPS – believing they were used to frame Kabila in a “planned DRC coup” which was an elaborate hoax by South African intelligence agents to eliminate him.
It was later established that four of the men were paid by intelligence to put together the scheme, find the 15 men, and present them as coup plotters. On November 28 last year, 15 of the men were told by the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court there was not enough evidence to prosecute them, and after almost two years in prison, they were released.
Four of the men remained in custody while Kabila was granted bail of R10 000, apparently without asking. Subsequently in February this year, the last four accused were acquitted with Kabila in the Northern Gauteng High Court by Judge Billy Mothle.
“There is no clear evidence of their intention to commit the alleged crimes,” said Judge Mothle in his ruling. “They (the police) used deceit and trickery to entice them to develop a plan that clearly didn’t exist,” he said.
Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi could neither confirm nor deny the existence of a rogue unit within the elite crime- fighting unit’s ranks.
After waiting for a response for two weeks, Mulaudzi yesterday said he would consult newly-appointed head of the Hawks, Major-General Berning Ntlemeza, for a comment.
Asked to provide details of who owns the farm, Mulaudzi said: “ I don’t know. And it seems no one knows or wants to tell.
“If they feel that they were set up, it is up to them to take the matter forward following proper channels,” said Mulaudzi.
DRC Ambassador Bene M’poko has previously insisted the embassy had not been involved in the case. He also denied the embassy had put pressure on South Africa to arrest and prosecute Kabila.
“They were arrested by the SAPS for a crime committed on South African soil and they went to a South African court. We left it to the South African judiciary. We didn’t play any role. We are staying far from it.”
The 20 men are now suing various security cluster departments for about R200 million.
Their legal representative, advocate Portia Phahlane, confirmed she has already served the National Prosecution Authority, the Department of Justice and Correctional Services and the Ministry of Police with an R190m lawsuit for malicious prosecution, torture and violations of rights, as well as unlawful arrest and detention.
The Sunday Independent