'Spy cop' case postponed

Cape Town – The case against a police captain accused of being used as a spy by the Western Cape government was postponed in the Bellville Magistrate's Court on Monday.

Captain Paul Scheepers appeared briefly in court, where prosecutor Advocate Thersia du Toit asked for a postponement, pending the outcome of a high court case on Tuesday on the same matter.

The captain is facing 55 charges including fraud, tender fraud, violating the electronic communications act, perjury and defeating the ends of justice.

Du Toit told the court that the proceedings against Scheepers were dependent on the high court case, which was also expected to be postponed on Tuesday.

All parties agreed to postpone the matter until February 4. Scheepers's bail of R2 000 was extended.

Scheepers, clad in a blue checked shirt and jeans, ran out the courtroom as soon as his case concluded, covering his face with a grey sweater.

The police captain, who in July missed a court case due to depression, was attached to the Crime Intelligence Unit, but also ran his own private detective agency, Eagle Eye Solutions Technology.

His company was employed by the provincial government to debug cellphones in a contract valued at R115 800, a report on the provincial government website confirmed.

On Saturday, the ANC in the Western Cape laid charges against Premier Helen Zille, whom they accused of hiring Scheepers to spy on the party.  

They laid charges at the Cape Town central police station against her for "employing a private covert intelligence investigator to execute illegal communications surveillance work on state land and property".

This article first appeared on News24 – see here.