Pikoli shocked by illegal NPA spying revelation

A Sunday Times report says the NPA is refusing to explain why it hired members of the SARS rogue spy unit to ‘upgrade security’ at its head office. This follows revelations in the newspaper last week that rogue unit members Andries ‘Skollie’ Janse van Rensburg and Helgard Lombard planted bugs in the NPA offices in 2007. At the time, the Scorpions, which fell under the NPA, were investigating Jacob Zuma – who became President two years later – and former police chief Jackie Selebi for corruption. In an affidavit submitted to the Hawks, Lombard said he had been instructed to monitor conversations about the Selebi case. He said the spying operation, Project Sunday Evenings, was authorised by former SARS deputy commissioner Ivan Pillay. The NPA confirmed it had paid the rogue unit more than R900 000 for ‘security upgrades’ to the offices of Scorpions members Leonard McCarthy and Gerrie Nel, the then NPA head Vusi Pikoli, ‘and another official’. Pikoli has denied any knowledge of recording devices placed in his office. ‘I am totally shocked; this is a new revelation. We were always suspicious that we were illegally bugged at the time as we were investigating the Police Commissioner. We expected crime intelligence to be doing it and not some rogue elements from SARS, of all places,’ Pikoli said.

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