Thabo Mbeki wins spy war

JOHANNESBURG – President Thabo Mbeki scored a major political victory on Friday when the ANC national executive committee (NEC) rejected a report into the origins of the hoax e-mails and divisions in the party.

The report, compiled by an internal task team comprising ANC stalwarts, contradicted the earlier findings of a government-backed probe into the email saga. It is also said to indirectly blame Mbeki for the divisions in the ANC and with its alliance partners, the SACP and Cosatu.The e-mail saga began in 2005 when then director-general of the National Intelligence Agency, Billy Masetlha, claimed to have intercepted communication between senior ANC, state and opposition leaders ‘plotting’ against ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma and secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe.Although a probe by the inspector-general of intelligence (IGI) later found the e-mails to be a hoax, the ANC insisted on its own investigation.This was seen as a slap in the face for Mbeki as his cabinet had already accepted the IGI’s findings.But in a dramatic turn of events last week, most NEC members rejected the report, citing several procedural flaws in the way it was compiled.They described the process as “clumsy” and a “farce”.Among the issues they complained about was that Masetlha, who is facing criminal charges relating to the saga, sat in on some of the task team’s proceedings and questioned some of the people who testified.Said an NEC member: “The question many of us were asking was, ‘How can a person at the centre of all of this be the one playing a central role in the investigations?’ His involvement made the whole thing a farce.”Masetlha, his former NIA cyber-spy Funi Madlala and IT specialist Muzi Kunene are facing charges relating to the saga.The rejection is seen as a blow for Motlanthe.He did not only believe the e-mails to be true, but actively campaigned for the task team to be set up.It also means the report has no status in the ANC.But one member said on Saturday that those who supported it might still push for it to be debated by delegates at the national policy conference in June or the national conference in December.City PressIt is also said to indirectly blame Mbeki for the divisions in the ANC and with its alliance partners, the SACP and Cosatu.The e-mail saga began in 2005 when then director-general of the National Intelligence Agency, Billy Masetlha, claimed to have intercepted communication between senior ANC, state and opposition leaders ‘plotting’ against ANC deputy president Jacob Zuma and secretary-general Kgalema Motlanthe.Although a probe by the inspector-general of intelligence (IGI) later found the e-mails to be a hoax, the ANC insisted on its own investigation.This was seen as a slap in the face for Mbeki as his cabinet had already accepted the IGI’s findings.But in a dramatic turn of events last week, most NEC members rejected the report, citing several procedural flaws in the way it was compiled.They described the process as “clumsy” and a “farce”.Among the issues they complained about was that Masetlha, who is facing criminal charges relating to the saga, sat in on some of the task team’s proceedings and questioned some of the people who testified.Said an NEC member: “The question many of us were asking was, ‘How can a person at the centre of all of this be the one playing a central role in the investigations?’ His involvement made the whole thing a farce.”Masetlha, his former NIA cyber-spy Funi Madlala and IT specialist Muzi Kunene are facing charges relating to the saga.The rejection is seen as a blow for Motlanthe.He did not only believe the e-mails to be true, but actively campaigned for the task team to be set up.It also means the report has no status in the ANC.But one member said on Saturday that those who supported it might still push for it to be debated by delegates at the national policy conference in June or the national conference in December.City Press