Durban – AFTER spending two days listening to a witness implicating him in the alleged looting of funds belonging to the State Security Agency (SSA) before the Zondo commission, former spymaster Dlomo says he is ready to state his side of the story.
After his stint, Dlomo became the country’s ambassador to Japan but he was recalled in 2018 when the Cyril Ramaphosa administration took over. Among the reasons cited for his recall by the Department of International Relations and Co-operation (Dirco) were the shenanigans at SSA.
Before the diplomatic posting, Dlomo, who is a former MK combatant, was the director of special operations at the spy agency. There are claims that he was hand-picked by former president Jacob Zuma to run the unit.
Now, in the latest claims before the commission which is probing allegations of state capture during the Zuma presidency, a masked witness testifying under the nom de plume of Ms K, has dragged Dlomo into the claims of mismanagement at the agency.
Among the claims were that the funds of the unit were looted with impunity and a parallel structure of intelligence and security was created by Dlomo with the intention of benefiting Zuma.
According to the witness, Dlomo started his shady work while he was still employed by the KZN department of social development. She claimed that he started assembling a special team that provided security to and only reported to Zuma.
The team also allegedly took over some tasks of the SAPS like guarding the presidential jet, Inkwazi and that resulted in tensions within the presidential protection unit. It was further alleged that some of the members of the squad were not properly vetted and trained.
Hitting back, Dlomo told Independent Media yesterday, that he was taken aback by the allegations levelled against him by Ms K. While he was said it was “prudent” for him to wait for Ms K to finish her testimony before he reacts, he believes the commission ambushed him.
“It will be prudent to respond once Ms K is done with her testimony … At no point was I informed by the commission (that I will be implicated),” Dlomo said.
On January 13, the testimony of former Eskom and Transnet chief financial officer (CFO) Anoj Singh had to be shelved after it emerged that the commission’s secretariat had served him with a defective affidavit.
In an interview with Independent Media in October 2019, shortly after he was fired for allegedly absconding work, Dlomo alleged that the probe at SSA was meant to purge all those who perceived to be close to Zuma and vowed to stage a fightback.
The spokesperson of the commission, Reverend Mbuyiselo Stemela, when asked about the allegation that the commission failed to undertake the simple task of serving a notice to Dlomo or his lawyers to notify him that he was going to be implicated, did not respond.
Stemela only acknowledged that he got the query from Independent Media.