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A letter written by former Crime Intelligence boss Richard Mdluli shows that Crime Intelligence officials were involved in party politics and ANC conferences, a witness told the state capture commission on Friday.
Hawks detective Colonel Kobus Roelefse testified that Mdluli had written to then president Jacob Zuma, the Minister of State Security, the national commissioner of police and the inspector general of intelligence in 2010, asking for their intervention in the investigations into his conduct.
READ | Richard Mdluli 'frustrated' investigations into abuse of secret service account
In the letter, Mdluli also highlighted his allegiance to the ANC and smeared those who were investigating him as loyalists of former president Thabo Mbeki in the run-up to the party's 2007 Polokwane conference.
The investigation against him appears to relate to allegations at the time that Mdluli was involved in the 1999 murder of Oupa Ramogibe, the husband of his former lover.
Mdluli and his co-accused, Mthembeni Mthunzi, were convicted of kidnapping and assault charges related to that case in July this year, and their sentencing is expected to take place on November 7 and 8, News24 previously reported.
Loyalty to the ANC
But nine years ago, with Mdluli having been implicated in the case, the former Crime Intelligence divisional head wrote to Zuma and the others in what appears to be an effort to ensure them of his loyalty to the ANC, and to ask for a probe into those who were investigating him.
Mdluli also claimed his calls were being recorded.
In the 2010 letter, which Roelofse read out at the commission on Friday, Mdluli spelled out how Crime Intelligence had inserted itself into the ANC's 2007 elective conference, and alleged that those who were investigating him might also be working to influence the outcome of the 2012 conference.
Roelofse said this was around the time of Mdluli's bail application in the Ramogibe matter.
Mdluli wrote that he was "never involved in the love triangle" involving Ramogibe and his former lover. He said that the officials investigating him were involved in "negative campaigning at the ANC conference during 2007".
"They were in the camp of the former president (Thabo Mbeki) and are now trying to take control of the intelligence environment within the police for dubious tactics," Mdluli wrote.
READ | Investigation into Mdluli lifted lid on secret service account looting - Zondo commission hears
He said this was "exacerbated" by the fact that three "whites" had approached a Warrant Officer Dlomo asking him to reconsider a statement he made in 1999, presumably related to the Ramogibe case.
Mdluli claimed this statement would have implicated himself and former cop, Nkosazana "Killer" Ximba, in wrongdoing.
Ximba was reportedly stationed at the same police station as Mdluli when Ramogibe was killed in 1999. Ximba was appointed Ekurhuleni Mayor Mzwandile Masina's security chief last year.
Personal agendas
Mdluli told Zuma in his letter that these "whites" wanted to know whether he was friends with Ximba, and he said that the relationship was purely professional.
Mdluli further stated that Ximba "is an active member of the ANC and during the struggle was one of the leaders of one of the self-defence units under the MKVA. He was also a bodyguard to Mrs Winnie Mandela and former minister Steve Tshwete."
Mdluli said he and Ximba had worked closely together during apartheid.
He also said Ximba "played an important role in the Polokwane conference and during the president's times with engagements with the NPA".
He said Ximba was appointed during the time of the former national police commissioner, Jackie Selebi.
Mdluli wrote that it was "worrying" that they had to deal with "our own people" in the intelligence environment who were still fighting personal agendas.
"The question now arises, what and how do they want to use the intelligence environment to affect the build up to the 2012 (ANC) conference," Mdluli wrote.
"With this in mind", Mdluli wrote, he had tightened up the disbursement of Crime Intelligence resources, especially for the payment of sources, to ensure that resources were not used to affect the 2012 conference.
He questioned whether these nameless intelligence officials wanted to "derail the ANC".
Mdluli wrote that he had asked an "independent body" to investigate them to "uncover their plots" and said there were also former Scorpions officials involved in these activities.
"I will be failing in my responsibilities if I do not note that both the joint standing committee on intelligence and the inspector general of intelligence have commended me on my performance and have noted a marked improvement in performance since the time of my appointment.
"I find it very disturbing… that I have been investigated for no apparent reason especially when initiated by persons who have proven themselves to be disloyal," Mdluli wrote.
He said that while he was not "actively involved in the struggle", he was "active in many other areas".
"I was and still am a loyal ANC member."
Mdluli asked that the president and others decide to "resolve this issue" and appoint an "independent person" to investigate "these so-called loyalists".
"It would be appreciated if attention can be given to the fact that my calls are being monitored," Mdluli wrote.
Roelofse said he did not know whether any action resulted from the letter, "but I do [know] that it confirms that Crime Intelligence is involved in party politics and [is] involved in the ANC conferences", he said.
Earlier, Roelofse testified that he had battled for seven years to get access to classified documents, and to declassify others, related to his investigations into various Crime Intelligence activities, but that these were ignored.
He said he was told that Mdluli and former Crime Intelligence chief financial officer, Solomon Lazarus, pressurised officials to not co-operate with the investigation.
Roelofse concluded his testimony by saying that what he had testified to was just a "microcosm" of what was going on at the police and with other investigations.
The commission resumes on Monday.
