Papers removed from court records in secret

According to a report in The Sunday Independent, the 72 pages consist of a classified report written by Ngcakani relating to Billy Masetlha, the former Director-General of Intelligence, and Masetlha\'s affidavit made in camera. They form part of the record in Masetlha\'s Pretoria High Court case of November last year, in which Masetlha claimed that President Thabo Mbeki had unlawfully and unfairly terminated his employment; his still continuing trial in Pretoria\'s Hatfield Community Court, where he is facing charges related to his ‘refusal to answer questions put to him by the Inspector-General of Intelligence Services’; and his appeal in the Constitutional Court. Shongwe ordered the pages be removed from the High Court record while Van der Merwe assured Jay Govender, an advocate, that ‘the bundle’ of papers, in which the Inspector-General\'s report and other documents appear, was in his ‘safekeeping’ and no unauthorised person would be allowed access to them. Legal sources said that, while Govender\'s behaviour was not unlawful, it was highly irregular and contrary to legal protocol that she had not informed all parties about what she was doing – and given them an opportunity to agree or disagree with her actions. One attorney said that, at best, her behaviour could be called inappropriate; at worst, it was ‘staggering’ and ‘breathtaking’ and bordered on the unethical. Full report in The Sunday Independent