Two former members of the State Security Agency (SSA) were arrested on Monday by the National Prosecuting Authority’s Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) for the misappropriation of about R5.8m in state funds and money laundering.
The SSA has a history of being plagued by corruption and in 2018 President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed a high-level panel chaired by former minister Sydney Mufamadi to look into its structure and functioning.
The panel uncovered widespread abuse of SSA resources which it said “had become a ‘cash cow’ for many inside and outside the agency”. It also identified a severe lack of financial controls.
A key finding of the panel was that there had been political manipulation and factionalisation of the intelligence community over the past decade or more that resulted in an almost complete disregard for the constitution, policy, legislation and other prescripts.
The panel recommended that Ramaphosa give instructions for all breaches of the law, regulations and other prescripts in the SSA to be investigated with a view to instituting criminal prosecution and/or disciplinary proceedings.
After their arrest, Ntshavheni Prince Makhathana and Matome Solomon Ralebipi appeared on the charges in the Specialised Commercial Crimes Court. Makhathana was granted R100,000 bail and Ralebipi R150,000 and their case was postponed to June 23 for pretrial.
Makhathana was a former manager of the Cover Support Unit (CSU) of the then National Intelligence Agency (NIA), which in 2009 became the SSA, and was responsible for all its operations and financial expenditure.
The state alleges that the covert nature of the CSU allowed him to dispense with a number of financial safeguards.
His co-accused, Ralebipi, was a former agent of the NIA. The theft for personal gain allegedly took place between 2007 and 2010.
The state alleges that accused number three, Ralebipi Properties CC, was created to serve as a money-laundering platform to conceal the origin of the proceeds of crime and the true ownership of the two business properties that were purchased. The accused also allegedly committed fraud, forgery, uttering and perjury to conceal their unlawful misappropriation of these funds.
After a lengthy litigation process, Ralebipi succeeded in obtaining a high court ruling that the properties must be registered in the name of Ralebipi Properties CC, of which he is the sole member.
The conditions of their bail were that they surrender their travel documents, not have any direct or indirect contact with the state witnesses, not leave their residential addresses with the exception of consultations with their attorneys and getting medical attention, not dispose of their immovable assets and should report to their nearest police stations every Friday.
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