Brown Mogotsi slammed as a liar as ‘fanciful’ testimony faces cross-examination

On Wednesday, 19 November, Madlanga Commission evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson SC tore into Brown Mogotsi’s testimony at the Madlanga Commission, accusing him of being a professional liar and dismissing his claims as fanciful, far-fetched and wildly implausible.

The interrogation follows Mogotsi’s captivating testimony, where he levelled a series of sensational and occasionally far-fetched claims before the commission probing criminality, political meddling and corruption in South Africa’s justice system.

Among the claims was that he was a SAPS Crime Intelligence agent and that KZN police commissioner Nhanhla Mkhwanazi and Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini were recruited by the CIA.

Not all allegations made by Mogotsi were dealt with on Wednesday. The cross-examination will continue on Thursday, 20 November.

Read more: From CIA to Crime Intelligence: Brown Mogotsi’s testimony in five sensational claims

Mogotsi has been accused of being the go-between for sidelined police minister Senzo Mchunu and alleged crime boss Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, who is alleged to have made payments towards Mchunu’s ANC presidency campaign and paid off several top cops.

Lied under oath

Questions over Mogotsi’s credibility surfaced in an affidavit he submitted to a police colonel in support of an application to conduct an undercover police trap targeting Mkhwanazi, who had, according to Mogotsi, allegedly wanted to remove Crime Intelligence’s Major General Feroz Khan, head of counter and security intelligence for the SAPS, from his position.

Mogotsi lied and said he worked in the Ministry of Police. He didn’t tell the Hawks approving officer that he was an alleged Crime Intelligence agent.

Chaskalson then put it to him that, as an “agent”, Mogotsi appeared to believe it was acceptable to “lie under oath if necessary for the mission”.

“It is not okay to lie under oath. I lied because I could not tell him that I’m an agent. It was for the purposes of the work,” he said.

Chaskalson stressed that lying under oath in the affidavit amounted to perjury.

CIA claims absurd

Another claim viewed as a deliberate misdirection tactic was Mogotsi’s allegation that Mkhwanazi and King Misuzulu were working for the CIA. Chaskalson noted that these claims struck him as nothing more than a diversion.

Mogotsi had claimed they were recruited after a coal mine in Richards Bay and the Richards Bay Coal Terminal were under threat of closure. He claimed the CIA became involved because there were “Israeli interests” in the mining operations.

Chaskalson pointed out that no such mine exists.

Mogotsi backtracked, saying: “I can rephrase and put it in proper context — the coal mine is in Mpumalanga.”

Chaskalson went further, explaining that the Richards Bay Coal Terminal was owned by a consortium of more than 10 mining companies, each holding its own export quota and independently controlling how that quota was used, including who they chose to export coal to from Richards Bay.

“Did you know that?” he asked.

Mogotsi replied: “I’m not aware of that.”

Read more: The company they keep — Cele and Mchunu on Matlala, Mogotsi and a murdered convict

Chaskalson then confronted Mogotsi with another inconsistency. In his statement, Mogotsi claimed there had been fears that the Richards Bay Coal Terminal and export route were about to be shut down, prompting renewed Western interest.

Pressed on the source of this claim, Mogotsi replied: “That is what I heard.”

Chaskalson said there had never been any suggestion by the government that the terminal was at risk. On the contrary, he noted, the government had invested hundreds of millions of rands to upgrade the rail link to Richards Bay — a position that directly contradicted Mogotsi’s claim.

Chaskalson told Mogotsi that if he and his handler had genuinely been investigating an alleged CIA plot through Mkhwanazi to protect Israeli interests in the export operations of the Richards Bay Coal Terminal, they would have uncovered the basic facts he had just presented “in five minutes on the internet”.

“The fact that neither you nor your handler took those five minutes,” he said, “suggests you were not actually investigating these allegations.”

He said Mogotsi would “not have arrived at a story that is so self-evidently absurd” had his supposed investigation into the matter been real.

Chaskalson argued that the claim that General Mkhwanazi and King Misuzulu were CIA operatives protecting Israeli interests was false and a deliberate misdirection tactic, aimed at shifting attention from the allegations Mkhwanazi had made against Mogotsi.

‘No bribes paid to Mkhwanazi and Masemola’

Chaskalson also dismissed Mogotsi’s allegations that Matlala paid bribes to Mkhwanazi and Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola, calling them yet another deliberate misdirection.

Chaskalson said: “We have been through Matlala’s cellphone, and he is hardly discreet about his improper relationships with senior SAPS members in his WhatsApp communications. We have seen plenty of evidence in the chats of Matlala paying SAPS members to assist him.

“We have also seen Matlala communicating directly with SAPS generals and brigadiers in improper circumstances. If Matlala was paying massive bribes to Masemola or Mkhwanazi, I would expect to see some sign of that relationship with them in the chats,” he said.

Mogotsi’s only response was that “something is missing” – claiming that messages implicating senior officials “may have been deleted”.

When Chaskalson put it to him that the cellphone had been proven authentic and not tampered with, Mogotsi had no convincing answer. Chaskalson said the explanation made Mogotsi’s version “incredibly implausible”.

Wrong address

Madlanga commissioner Sesi Baloyi SC pointed out another inconsistency regarding his claim that Matlala told him he handed Mkhwanazi a bag in Durban, yet Mogotsi had done nothing to verify the alleged bribe.

“You haven’t investigated that. You have presented no evidence confirming that this conversation with Matlala was true. We have no facts. You made the allegation – how does that help the commission carry out its mandate?”

Mogotsi replied: “All I am saying is I came here to give my side of the story. For one to say I am misdirecting when I say this is what I know… if Cat was lying to me, he was lying to me.”

Baloyi said she was concerned that the commission might well be grossly irresponsible and reckless in giving Mogotsi a platform to make allegations that weren’t backed up by facts.

Baloyi also noted that Magotsi testified that Matalala told him he went to Mkhwanazi’s home in Umhlanga Ridge.

“If you have been following the works of the commission, you would know that Mkhwanazi testified that his home is in Hillcrest. You come here and put it out there that payments were made at his house, something was given to him at his house. There is simply no evidence from your backing up these allegations.

“These have serious implications for people, and I think we should be concerned that you may be using this platform at least to some extent to make allegations like that,” Baloyi cautioned. DM