Johannesburg - Police are tracking down a foreigner on the run who is believed to be the ringleader of a property hijacking, prostitution and drug-dealing syndicate.
Blaise Kalaty, a DR Congo national, is a self-proclaimed drug dealer, prostitution-ring owner and property hijacker, who allegedly tried to kill Themba Mgabe, a South African, with poison after having an affair with Mgabe’s wife.
Kalaty operated in the country under three aliases - Muhim Athanas Kalaty, Muhim Blessing Athanas and Muhim Athanas Kalaty - via three different Congolese passports, and “fraudulently” acquired permanent residency.
This is contained in an explosive sworn affidavit written by Rachelle Reyneke, a director at the Department of Home Affairs’ head office.
Reyneke confirmed in her affidavit that no records could be traced of Kalaty applying for temporary or permanent residency status under his known aliases.
“With regard to a purported permanent residence permit bearing reference number GER 926/2012 and control number A14554,” Reyneke wrote, “I can confirm that no application for such permit exists and that the details thereof have been fraudulently captured on the Department’s Track & Trace system by user-IDs not authorised to perform these functions.”
Reyneke’s affidavit, seen by The Star, was requested by Sergeant ME Matlala of the SAPS’s Provincial Investigation Unit.
The Star was reliably informed that Kalaty has since fled the country. However, provincial police spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Lungelo Dlamini said he could not confirm or deny whether Kalaty had escaped.
Dlamini said: “Investigations on this case are still continuing.”
Mgabe, an assistant director at Lensaria and Waterkloof’s Home Affairs, told The Star his estranged wife and Kalaty tried to poison him to gain his pension fund, two homes and insurance policies.
“My wife and Blessing both agreed to kill his (Kalaty’s) wife by poisoning. After killing his wife, I was (supposedly) next. When I found out about that, I started not to eat at home,” said Mgabe.
Medical records from three different doctors show that Mgabe was hospitalised for over 20 days in a three-year period, including undergoing surgery in 2015 and last year for “strange illnesses” that Mgabe believes was the poison.
“The poison reveals itself as a strange illness that confuses everybody, including the doctors,” he contended.
In text messages seen by The Star, sent by Kalaty to Mgabe, the Congolese national threatened to kill Mgabe and hijack his Vaal property, as he had done other properties, and turn it into a drug and prostitution den.
“Your (Mgabe’s) house will be on TV next week for selling drugs and trafficking; watched this space (sic),” Kalaty bragged.
Mgabe, who travels with a Home Affairs escort, said he opened a case of intimidation and conspiracy to kill at the Diepkloof police station.
However, he said he was “disappointed and surprised” to find out that his docket and important documents had gone missing.
“I wrote letters of complaint to Ipid, Integrity, SAPS and Corruption Reports. I requested to see the docket, to make sure that whatever I have is also there. To my surprise the docket was empty,” a visibly distressed Mgabe said.
He added that telephone recordings that he obtained from his private investigator, including more than 3000 documents he had collected as evidence, had all gone missing with the docket.
A video on YouTube shows Kalaty bragging about having R500000 in cash. The money is visible, strewn across a desk in a room that looks like an office.
Home Affairs spokesperson Thabo Mokgola said he could not provide comment “due to the matter being a subject of a court process”.
The Star had asked him whether the department was worried that its systems were compromised due to the “fraudulent” acquisition of legal documents by an alleged criminal.
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