Botswana accuses SA of withholding evidence in Bridgette Motsepe-Radebe case

Botswana prosecutors have accused SA authorities of deliberately withholding crucial evidence they require to prosecute a sensational money laundering case that implicates SA mining magnate Bridgette Motsepe-Radebe and that country’s former president, Ian Khama.

In an unusual step, Botswana’s director of public prosecutions, Stephen Tiroyakgosi, appointed Afrikaner rights group AfriForum to sue justice minister Ronald Lamola, international relations minister Naledi Pandor and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) over the SA government’s alleged failure to respond to a September 25 2019 request it lodged for mutual legal assistance.

Typically, requests for mutual legal assistance are handled through diplomatic channels. The justice department has already stated that it will not respond to AfriForum’s written demands on behalf of Botswana because it is a “non-state actor” — an apparent indication of its unhappiness over AfriForum’s involvement in this process.

International relations spokesperson Clayson Monyela said he is “unaware” of any precedent for AfriForum to act on behalf of Botswana but stressed that the department had forwarded the request for legal assistance to the department of justice.

Lamola’s spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, told Business Day that the minister is still  “seeking legal advice” in relation to AfriForum’s application and declined to comment further.

In an August 19 affidavit endorsed by Tiroyakgosi, AfriForum attorney Willie Spies said Botswana’s prosecuting head and his staff had approached his organisation “out of exasperation”.

According to Spies, Tiroyakgosi and his staff believed that the SA government may be “unwilling or refusing to comply with their duties in terms of the mutual legal assistance”.

In apparent reference to Khama and Motsepe-Radebe, who is the sister-in-law of President Cyril Ramaphosa, Spies said those suspected of involvement in the money laundering case included “prominent and politically connected SA and Botswana citizens”.

In Botswana’s request for assistance, which was lodged four months after Khama defected from the ruling Botswana Democratic Party following a public spat with his successor, Mokgweetsi Masisi, authorities seek information required for its ongoing prosecution of intelligence agent Welheminah Mphoeng Maswabi.

Maswabi is implicated in involvement in a treasonous plot with Khama; former intelligence chief, Isaac Kgosi; Motsepe-Radebe; and others. As yet, Maswabi remains the only accused in the case.

In an effort to clear her name, Motsepe-Radebe appointed Cherie Blair’s international law firm, Omnia Strategy, and business intelligence firm Alaco to investigate the allegations made against her and Khama — her long-time family friend — in an affidavit filed by Botswana directorate of economic crime and corruption investigator Jako Hubona in the Maswabi prosecution.

Maswabi stands accused of financing terrorism. The state’s case against Maswabi implies that these funds were intended to be used to orchestrate political unrest and fund opposition groups against Masisi.

Blair’s report found there was absolutely no truth to Hubona’s claims that while still in office Khama and Kgosi had opened a number of bank accounts at the Bank of Botswana to funnel more than $10.1bn to international and SA bank accounts in 2019.

Botswana’s Reserve Bank has reportedly stated that such an alleged transfer of funds was impossible and had not occurred.

The report produced by Blair’s firm also rubbished Hubona’s claims that Motsepe-Radebe and Maswabi were cosignatories on some of these accounts.