Angry SAs speak out over illegal Zuma spying saga – ‘scary stuff’
Former intelligence minister David Mahlobo is facing a police investigation over illegal spying activities on critics of former president Jacob Zuma. A former State Security Agency (SSA) operative's affidavit named more than three dozen high-profile figures who were under surveillance on former president Jacob Zuma's instruction through high-tech equipment provided by the Russians. Among them were obvious Zuma enemies like chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng, his former finance minister Pravin Gordhan, and ex-Public Protector Thuli Madonsela. However, names that came as a surprise were journalism professor Anton Harber, former Sygnia CEO Magda Wierzycka, and finance minister Tito Mboweni.
Wierzycka is well known for her stance against corruption and she was instrumental in exposing both the #GuptaLeaks in 2017 and the auditing firm KPMG as a facilitator of state capture within government entities. Wierzycka recently posted on Twitter that she is well aware that she has been the subject of spying. The state security operative then confirmed that the former CEO is amongst a group of 'strategic individuals' whom he monitored through phone tapping and cellphone triangulation.
In an interview in 2018 with BizNews founder Alec Hogg, Wierzycka described the need to target corruption in South Africa and why she went from a leading chief executive in financial services to someone who could potentially attract a few enemies.
"I didn't start off by wanting to be an anti-corruption crusader, it was more the fact that being in the investment industry, what we did see on the ground is a country spiralling downwards under the Zuma regime and it was the truth that potentially was hidden from members of the public. It got to a point where you had to do something. I just felt you had to start speaking out – particularly after Gupta leaks appeared.
What absolutely amazed me is that with all of that evidence out there in the public realm, no one was doing anything about it. That's really what triggered this kind of involvement in starting to speak out and little did I know at the time that I would be a bit of a lone voice from the business side.
I expected business South Africa to stand up and say, 'We cannot continue on this path because it's a path of economic destruction for this country'. So, never mind the political issues but just on the economic front, it's in the interest of business and would have been in the interest of business South Africa to speak out. When the Gupta leaks came into the public domain I fully expected leading business figures to speak out. Instead, no one did."
A secret witness told the Zondo Commission that Mahlobo received millions in cash from the State Security Agency which had to be delivered to Zuma. Mahlobo denies that he ever received large cash payments and he currently serves as the deputy human settlements minister in President Cyril Ramaphosa's cabinet. As such, community members are taking to social media to voice their frustrations.
"Mahlobo currently serves as the deputy human settlements minister in President Cyril Ramaphosa's cabinet. This is why nothing will change," says
Cyril is dyed in the wool ANC. The evidence is overwhelming that its modus operandi mimics that of the mafia; its leaders are largely unaccountable and even the Constitutional Court is acting with undue deference to a man who is manifestly corrupt and engaged in criminal behaviour. What makes me sick is the vast majority of the business community are silent, compliant, and don't want to rock the boat, especially about expropriation despite its consequences. These same men swagger up to check-in counters and demand to be treated like gods because of their 'status' and have big bravado."
"Wasn't he the fellow that testified at Zondo a couple of days ago?" asks My heavens, the bloke I watched looked and sounded like a caricature of a Dunning-Kruger experiment."
Needless to say, many South Africans are cheering Magda Wierzycka on because she doesn't hesitate to call out corruption.
"Great track record and she speaks her mind freely, probably because she owes nobody nothing," writes
To hear the full interview with Magda Wierzycka on being followed, listen below: