MK Party MP Vusi Shongwe (with clenched fist) told the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry that he was offered R10 million during a Durban virtual meeting with suspended Gauteng Crime Intelligence head Major-General Feroz Khan.
Image: Parliament RSA / Supplied
Vusi Shongwe, an MP for the uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MKP), testified before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry on Tuesday that he received an offer of R10 million during a virtual meeting in Durban with Major-General Feroz Khan, the suspended head of Gauteng Crime Intelligence.
Shongwe said the offer followed his questioning of Khan’s alleged links to illegal cigarette smuggling at a Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee on SAPS.
He said he never received the money, which was allegedly meant to be handed over at a physical meeting with Khan in Sandton on March 10. He did not attend the proposed meeting.
He testified that Khan’s alleged associates, Yusuf Kajee and a man known only as Imran, arranged his March 8 video call with Khan from a security company office in Durban.
He said he began probing Khan’s alleged link to cigarette smuggling after Khan’s name was excluded from the list of people called to appear before the Ad Hoc Committee.
He told the commission that EFF leader Julius Malema was the most vocal in opposing Khan’s appearance, but other parties also supported keeping Khan off the list. As a result, Khan was not called to testify, Shongwe said.
He was also prompted to investigate Khan based on allegations that Khan, a multimillionaire businessman, was seeking to remain in the SAPS intelligence division despite his considerable means.
Regarding the March 8 meeting, Shongwe told the commission that Londiwe Xulu, a PA of former president Jacob Zuma, phoned him to inform him that some people were interested in seeing him. The people in question - Kajee and Imran - had already met with Zuma to seek his permission to meet with Shongwe.
"I was in Cape Town and then I flew to Durban for this one," he said, adding that he was under the impression the meeting would be with people wanting to support the MKP.
During the meeting with Kajee and Imran inside the boardroom of security firm DRK Tactical, Shongwe was informed that Khan, who was not physically present, wished to speak to him by telephone.
Shongwe testified that Kajee proceeded to dial despite his expressed reluctance to speak to Khan.
He testified that Khan greeted him calmly and asked what he was doing to him. He said he understood Khan to be referring to the Ad Hoc Committee proceedings.
"I said to him, I am doing nothing to you, I was merely referencing your name; I am not looking for you. He then said 'you are killing me' and touched his throat, saying, 'you are suffocating me'. And his eyes now are turning red. If I may say it, he was crying," Shongwe said.
He testified that Khan proposed a meeting in Sandton on the Friday of the week of March 8.
Shongwe said, while talking to Khan, Kajee asked, "Where in Sandton?" Khan allegedly responded, "In the apartment."
Kajee ended the call and allegedly told Shongwe, "Stop this; you are our brother, and we can really take care of you. There is a security tender at Checkers worth R2 million every month, and we can give it to you."
Shongwe said: "I replied that I do not operate in that manner. He insisted that he could arrange 10 bar (R10 million) for me in cash and I said I was fine, that we would talk on Friday."
He said it crossed his mind that "if Khan was so innocent, why would he want me in that office when he had a space where he could come to Ad Hoc for free".
He told the commission he believed the meeting was a ploy to implicate him, either by getting him to accept cash or by giving them a way to control him.
Asked if he had taken the R10m, he said: "If it was there, let me tell you what I was going to do. I was going to take that R10m, go home with the R10m, and look for charities, look for the hobos in the streets and give them money, and get to Ad Hoc and tell them that I took the R10m given by these people... That's my character. That's the person I am, but unfortunately, they have no money."
He was allegedly assured that upon his arrival in Johannesburg, he would receive his "chocolates" in reference to the R10m. Shongwe said he never met or spoke with Khan or his alleged associates subsequently.
He testified that he later briefed Jacob Zuma and Duduzane Zuma, a member of the MK Party’s presidential task team about the meeting. Zuma expressed surprise and gave him a go-ahead to expose Khan and his alleged associates.
He said he never reported the meeting to the committee, but raised it while questioning suspended SAPS National Commissioner General Fannie Masemola during his appearance before the committee. Masemola allegedly failed to follow up on Shongwe's meeting with Khan and the R10m offer.
He said it was only the Madlanga Commission and his political party that had spoken to him about this matter.
He said mentioning the matter during the committee meeting was enough. "I didn't see a need to open a case or do anything further," he said.
Shongwe concluded his testimony. The commission is set to resume proceedings on Wednesday.