The Directorate of Special Operations (DSO) had, it seems, planned to arrest the national commissioner of police, Jackie Selebi, on corruption charges some three months ago. They had apparently "backed off" following an intervention by President Thabo Mbeki. Earlier this month however the DSO decided to go ahead with the arrest of Selebi (as was their right) without informing, or asking permission from, either Mbeki or the Minister of Justice Brigitte Mabandla.
On September 10 the DSO obtained an arrest warrant for Selebi from Cheryl Loots, the Chief Magistrate in Randburg. A search and seizure warrant was then obtained (on September 14) from Phineas Mojapelo, deputy judge president of the Witwatersrand local division in Johannesburg.
A later National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) statement said that "The decision to obtain these warrants was carefully considered and supported by the senior management of the NPA, including the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Adv Vusi Pikoli."
It seems that Mbeki was then told (or found out about) the decision to arrest and charge Selebi. Either way it was presented to him as a fait accompli. According to at least two subsequent articles based on pro- government sources this was the immediate cause of Pikoli's sacking. The Sunday Independent claimed "Mbeki snapped when Pikoli placed on the table a warrant to arrest Selebi...The president was angered by what he perceived as his authority being undermined by not being briefed in advance about the imminent arrest of his national police commissioner." According to the version in City Press:
"Pikoli's woes centre around his alleged ‘arrogance and contempt for politicians, including Mbeki' whom he kept out of the loop, particularly on the Selebi case. An irritated Mbeki told a confidant that Pikoli ‘was either naïve or controlled' by his subordinates and thus unfit to hold public office. What irked Mbeki most was that Pikoli simply told him he had obtained a warrant for Selebi's arrest and a court order to search Selebi's premises and a few offices."
Mbeki then instructed Mabandla, to intervene. According to the Mail & Guardian on Wednesday September 19 Mabandla wrote to Pikoli "asking him to explain why she had not been consulted about the decision to charge Selebi. She allegedly demanded access to the Selebi docket and asked Pikoli to resign." Pikoli wrote back to the minister the following day (Thursday September 20) apparently pointing out her limited understanding of his constitutional obligations. He also warned her "that she might be guilty of obstructing justice if she told anyone about the charges against the police chief."
On Saturday September 22, it was later reported, Mbeki met Pikoli, Mabandla, the head of the DSO Leonard McCarthy, and the director-general of the justice department, Menzi Simelane. At this meeting Mabandla demanded that Pikoli resign. He once again refused.
The following day (Sunday September 23) - after further meetings with Pikoli and Mabandla - Mbeki informed Pikoli that he had decided to suspend him. Moketedi Mpshe, the deputy NDPP, was summoned to Mbeki's residence at about 9pm that day. At this meeting "He was asked to act as head of the NPA and to review the Selebi docket." Mpshe agreed and decided (or was instructed to) halt the execution of the search and arrest warrants pending a review.
According to the Sunday Times, "that night officials in the Presidency were summoned to an emergency meeting at which a public relations strategy was crafted to deal with potential public outcry Mbeki's decision might draw."
Pikoli's removal from office presented a very basic problem for the presidency. In Mbeki's eyes Pikoli's sin was that he had broken with the rules of democratic centralism, and failed to place loyalty to "the ANC" (or rather its president) over loyalty to his institution. Yet this was not a firing offence in terms of the constitution and the law. Indeed quite the contrary. By refusing to accept political instructions as to whom he should, and should not, prosecute Pikoli was merely standing by his oath of office. This required that he "enforce the Law of the Republic without fear, favour or prejudice." So in order to justify Pikoli's suspension the presidency had to quickly formulate reasons which would be consistent with the law and the constitution.
On Monday, September 24, the presidency announced the suspension of Pikoli. The reason it presented for this decision was that there had been "an irretrievable break down in the working relationship between the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development and the NDPP." Speaking off-the-record officials from the presidency poured buckets of dirt over Pikoli and the DSO. Various "sources" told The Star that the DSO had been involved in "illegal intelligence-gathering activities", had "breached national security," and had operated "outside the law."
On Tuesday September 25 the director general in the presidency, Frank Chikane, briefed opposition leaders. He told journalists after the meeting that "something has gone wrong" in the structural relationship between Pikoli and the justice minister.
On Thursday morning, September 27, the SABC reported that speaking on the "sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York" Mbeki had said that he "believed his decision to suspend Vusi Pikoli was the best way to deal with the conflict that had arisen between Pikoli and the Minister of Justice, Brigitte Mabandla." What went unsaid in all these briefings and statements was that Pikoli's suspension had been precipitated by his decision to arrest Selebi. Indeed, the warrants of arrest went completely unmentioned.
However, that evening SABC news revealed, for the first time, that the NPA had "obtained a warrant for the arrest of the chief of SA Police Service, Jackie Selebi." This warrant, it added, was "accompanied by a search and seizure document obtained from the Pretoria High Court."
The following day Mpshe met with Mabandla, Similane, and unnamed "officials from the presidency" where he briefed them about the repercussions of this latest development. It is not known what (if anything) was decided at the meeting. But that evening Mpshe "approached the Magistrate's Court in Randburg and the magistrate agreed to the cancellation of the arrest warrant."
However, the NPA, the police, and the presidency continued to refuse to admit, in public, that warrants had been issued (or that they were being surreptitiously retracted). Selebi confidently told the Sunday Times (September 30) that "There is no such thing as a warrant. It does not exist. I will not comment on the charges as there is no warrant." That evening Mpshe met with Mojapelo and requested that he retract the search and seizure warrants. However, according to the NPA's later account, Mojapelo "indicated that he was not prepared to grant the application without further motivation. Thereupon, Adv Mpshe decided not to proceed with the application."
On Monday government reiterated, in a statement, that Mbeki had suspended Pikoli "on the basis of his conclusion that the relationship breakdown" between the NDPP and the minister of justice "had the potential to hamper the discharge of the Minister's constitutional obligations and that this could affect the administration of justice." The same statement categorically denied the allegation that the suspension of Pikoli "was meant to protect" Selebi.
On Tuesday (October 2) Mbeki was asked by a journalist whether he had seen a warrant of arrest for Selebi. Mbeki replied, "You cannot be serious. Have you ever heard of a president issuing a warrant?"
It was announced over the weekend that the former speaker of parliament and ANC NEC member, Frene Ginwala, would conduct the enquiry - as required by the NPA act - into Pikoli's "fitness to hold office." The terms of reference of the enquiry were released on the Wednesday (October 3). These stated that the issue to be determined by the enquiry was the "fitness of Advocate V Pikoli, to hold the office of National Director." The presidency laid out two lines of complaint. The first related to the DSO strategy of offering plea-bargains to witnesses in return for their testimony against Selebi. Thus, the terms of reference stated that Ginwala should enquire into whether Pikoli "in exercising his discretion to prosecute offenders, had sufficient regard to the nature and extent of the threat posed by organised crime to the national security of the Republic."
The second related to the breakdown in the relationship between Pikoli and Mabandla. Thus, Ginwala was also required to investigate whether Pikoli "failed to appreciate the nature and extent of the Constitutional and legal oversight powers of the Minister over the prosecuting authority."
On October 4 Ginwala announced that government would submit its report on the "circumstances and events" leading to Pikoli's suspension over the next ten days; after which Pikoli would be asked to respond. Once Ginwala had received submissions from both parties she would be in a "position to establish what further information is required" to enable her to reach a determination.
It was on the Friday, October 5, that the Mail & Guardian broke the story of Mpshe's efforts to have the warrants against Selebi pulled. This precipitated a statement from the NPA which acknowledged, for the first time, that warrants had been issued. It also admitted that Mpshe had succeeded in getting the arrest warrant withdrawn and had tried and failed to get the search warrant pulled as well.
On October 7 the Sunday Times reported "that a senior official working in the Justice Department and one of Mbeki's top aides have been tasked to convince Mojapelo to cancel the search warrant he issued against Selebi." The Sunday Independent meanwhile reported that Mpshe "says he has been a close associate and friend of police chief Jackie Selebi for many years... In an interview, Msphe was frank about the fact that his job of establishing whether the NPA had sufficient grounds to prosecute Selebi had been especially ‘emotionally taxing' due to the ‘old friendship'."
