28 Aug 2006: ISS Today: South Africa: Death, Torture and Conspiracy Mark Heist Saga

25 August 2006: South Africa: Death, Torture and Conspiracy Mark Heist Saga
Jeremy Gordin, Cape Argus

 

On 21 August 2006 the fifth victim linked to the robbery of over US$11 million stolen from a cargo plane in a sensational heist that took place at the Johannesburg International Airport (JIA) on 25 March 2006 died in a hail of bullets at his home, at the hands of gunmen armed with assault rifles and pistols. It is unknown as to what is the motivation for the killing of police inspector Khomani Robert Mashele, but one thing is clear, that this was an assassination. The murder is an apparent effort to cover the tracks of the real criminals who do not want their role in the heist or the subsequent theft of the recovered money from the police safe to be known.

 

Commentary

 

Organised crime is consistently under the spotlight nowadays. Apart from Robert Mashele, four other people linked to the JIA heist have died. What appeared to be a flawless organised criminal operation, which was completed without so much as one gunshot being fired, has been followed by rather ugly events, including the killing of suspects and informers, even before the whole truth behind the robbery has been established in a court of law. Reporting on the matter, a source close to the investigation had expressed fears for the lives of witnesses and suspects should they be released on bail (1). The murder of police inspector Robert Mashele has shown that the warning was not far off the mark.

 

This is the chronology of events to date:

 

• 25 March 2006: Cargo plane arrives from London and Magdalena Moonsamy, one of the accused and who was operations controller at the Airports Company-South Africa (ACSA) at the time, directed the aircraft away from where it had been scheduled to stop, away from a place where the plane would have been monitored by a camera, to a place where there was no camera. The police are adamant that Moonsamy it is usual for people employed in the capacity of operations controller would have been aware of the contents of the cargo plane.
• Millions in foreign currency are stolen from a cargo plane at the Johannesburg International Airport by some 25 people who were armed with heavy assault rifles and pistols.
• Days after the robbery the first suspect dies after sustaining gunshot wounds, following a gun battle that ensued between him and police.
• Another suspect, Bhekithemba Khumalo, died after being shot by police during an attempt to arrest him.
• 24 May 2006: some of the recovered money (R14 million) is stolen from a police walk-in-safe located at the premises of North Rand Serious and Violent Crime Unit.
• Five men are arrested in connection with the break-in at the walk-in-safe, including three police officers who worked there, one of them being, Robert Mashele.
• 5 June 2006: Solomon Nengwane, suspected of having information regarding the police station burglary, dies after being released from custody. It was confirmed by a pathology report after the Independent Complaints Directorate investigated the matter that Nengwane had been suffocated. During the same period a suspect, known only as “Mike” died after being shot by police in the back as he tried to escape. He was handcuffed at the time.
• 25 June 2006: Nazir Ismail, Rookaya Ibrahim and Sean Soobramoney are dismissed with immediate effect by ACSA after an internal hearing, where it was established that they had in their possession large sums of foreign currency that was suspected to have been part of the proceeds of the March heist.
• 6 July 2006: Christopher Billings, Rashdee Rudolf of Cape Town, Uakareraije Maundu and Uakotokia Tjinkinda, both of Namibia, Shikunwela Fox Sithole, of Vosloorus, and Tebogo Nhlapo apply for bail but claim in their statements that they had admitted to being involved in the airport heist under duress. Statements made by the suspects are filled with factual contradictions. The investigation, led by Superintendent Willie Joubert, appears be based on shaky ground.
• 21 August 2006: Robert Mashele is killed at his home in front of his family and a friend by unknown assailants who were armed with assault rifles and pistols.

 

This case raises questions on the conduct of the police. Some of the suspects claimed to have sustained injuries to their private parts (2) after they had been arrested, much in the fashion of tactics used during the apartheid era to get people to provide information. Even the three police officers arrested for suspected involvement in the burglary of the police safe claimed in their bail applications that they had been tortured in order to admit they were indeed involved (3). One other informant disappeared from witness protection after learning of the deaths of a suspect and two other informants. While other suspects were arrested for involvement in the heist, they were never charged for the possession of illegal firearms and ammunition. This leads to questions as to whether there were any firearms found in possession of the suspects and if these can be linked to the JIA heist at all (4). Therefore, there is a strong indication that these cases have been handled in a manner that raises more questions than answers, and which may lead to acquittals.

 

In all these events the Independent Complaints Directorate, which is tasked with investigating acts of misconduct by police, has yet to reveal the truth behind the claims being made of police brutality and the elimination of witnesses. It should be noted, however, that the surgeon who examined the police officers arrested for the police-safe burglary confirmed that the men had been tortured with electrical pods. State prosecutor, Peter-Alan Smith, even expressed the belief that the police are covering their own tracks by eliminating witnesses, and torturing fellow police officers into confessing (5). Further information pointing to the likelihood of a cover up includes the fact that when the police safe was broken into, the police reported that only R14 million rand was stolen. However, it emerged from a source close to the investigation that in actual fact, US$14 million of reign currency and R1.5 million was stolen (6). None of those arrested for the police safe burglary were found with the foreign denominations. Therefore, the public was misled about the true amount of money stolen from the police safe. The US$14 million also contradicts the original story that US$11 million was stolen in the heist. Therefore, there are many inconsistencies and growing indications that indeed there may be a cover up by senior members of the police force controlling the investigation. It is not known who these individuals are as the investigation is officially the responsibility of the inter-provincial task team.

 

Both the Minister of Safety and Security and the Police Commissioner have reserved their comments on the matter, which presents as a lack of political will. Yet, both were vocal about the killing of four police officers in a gun battle that took place recently in Jeppestown, Johannesburg. The suggestion that senior police officers could be involved is obviously a sensitive matter, one that will hopefully be resolved as the trial goes on. However, it is reasonable for the public to expect that the minister and the commissioner make firm statements (without commenting directly on the case) on what will be done to address the issue.

 

The chain of events surrounding the handling of investigation of the airport heist alludes to disturbing undercurrents, including organised crime and corruption. The fact that there are people who roam freely with assault rifles and go on murder rampages adds to fears that South Africa has become a violent place where organised crime is rife and perpetrators act with impunity.

 

Mpho Mashaba – Organised Crime and Money Laundering Programme, ISS Cape Town

1. Kashiefa Ajam and Sheree Russouw, "Cops are murdering witnesses" The Star, June 17, 2006. http://iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20060617084543467C568093

2. Duncan Guy, “Guards helped load airport cash – police” Independent Online, April 20, 2006.  http://iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=qw1145481840398B263

3. Jeremy Gordin, “Death, torture and conspiracy mark heist saga” Cape Argus, June 18, 2006. http://iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20060618094417368C536358

4. Michael Schmidt “Confusion reigns about heist details” Cape Argus, April 01, 2006. http://iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20060401105621982C378512

5. Jeremy Gordin, Ibid.

6. Kashiefa Ajam and Sheree Russouw, Ibid.