InfoUpdate
An Information Service supplied by the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society

23 October 2009

This professional service draws attention to current and important items of news
 and members are directed to the hosts' websites

InfoUpdate 22 of 2009
Recent Judgments 

Electronic copies of this information may be obtained from our librarians at help@lawlibrary.co.za or click on the underlined hyperlink where relevant

South Gauteng High Court (previously Witwatersrand Local Division) - http://www.saflii.org.za/za/cases/ZAGPJHC/  ; Court rolls at http://www.saflii.org/blog/?page_id=173

SABC, 'Sunday Times' in court over return of report - 6 October
The SABC wants returned a confidential report in the possession of the Sunday Times that informed a frontpage story on "mass corruption and gross mismanagement" at the state broadcaster. The SABC is taking the newspaper to the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg today after the article, published in March, revealed the mismanagement of Matilda Gaboo, head of the SABC's international programme acquisition division. Gaboo, the article said, "is alleged to have wasted at least R49-million in two years on overpayments and TV programmes that were not screened". The SABC's lawyer, PJ van Blerk, will today tell the court why the report should be handed back. But in responding papers, Sunday Times Advocate Wim Trengove said returning the document would "in all probability expose the identity of the source". - Times Live website

Sunday Times 'protecting source' - 7 October
The court battle over leaked documents between the SABC and the Sunday Times has been compared by Judge Nigel Willis to the exposure of a high-profile extra-marital affair. Judge Willis of the South Gauteng High Court said : "Let's say a prominent individual wrote an unfortunate love letter and someone gets hold of that letter and photocopies it and a newspaper uses the copy of the letter. The individual will be embarrassed and the individual has various remedies if the newspaper wants to publish - can the individual ask for the copy?". - Times Live website

SABC loses bid to get leaked documents - 14 October
The Sunday Times has won a legal battle against the SABC in which the public broadcaster wanted documents leaked to the paper returned. Judge Nigel Willis said the SABC had no basis in law to have the report restored to it and ruled in favour of the Sunday Times, with costs. - Times Live website

Convicted fraudster gets 15 years - 6 October
Former chief executive and chairman of the collapsed Regal Bank, Jeff Levenstein, was on Tuesday morning sentenced to an effective 15 years in prison for six counts of fraud and two contraventions of the Companies Act. He is expected to apply for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal against his conviction and sentence. - Business Report website

Judge's withering judgement of Jeff - 12 October
Regal Treasury CEO Jeff Levenstein displayed no remorse for his fraudulent criminal conduct and tried to blame others for the collapse of the bank said Justice AJ Pandya of the South Gauteng High Court.Sentencing Levenstein to 15 years in prison on Tuesday, the judge said Levenstein had displayed an appallingly inappropriate attitude towards State witnesses. - Moneyweb website

Gama's Transnet court application dismissed - 7 October
Transnet Freight Rail CEO Siyabonga Gama's application to have his suspension lifted was dismissed with costs by the high court in Johannesburg on Wednesday. Gama's suspension followed allegations of procurement irregularities against him. These included Gama's alleged allocation of a contract to Sibanye Trade Services to refurbish 50 locomotives, though they lacked experience to do so.  - Mail & Guardian website

Transnet to continue with action against Gama - 7 October
Transnet will continue with a disciplinary hearing against its Freight Rail's chief executive Siyabonga Gama, a spokesperson said on Wednesday. Earlier, Gama's application to have his suspension lifted was dismissed with costs by the High Court in Johannesburg. "The disciplinary hearing . . . will now take its course with an independent chairman", Transnet spokesperson John Dludlu said in a statement. - Mail & Guardian website

Porritt's 'indigence' disputed - 8 October
The chief executive officer of Legal Aid South Africa has rejected claims by businessman Gary Porritt and his former assistant, Susan Bennett, that they cannot expect to receive "quality" legal services from the state in their complex R700 million fraud trial. Vidhu Vedalankar, however, also points out that Legal Aid SA remains unconvinced that Porritt and Bennett ought to qualify for legal aid and is appealing the ruling of the trial court in that regard, as well as the ruling concerning the "number and type" of counsel to be appointed to represent them. However, in the interim, Vedalankar said, Legal Aid SA will provide competent legal representation to Porritt and Bennett. - The Witness website

NPA, Legal Aid reject Porritt counsel plea - 13 October
The National Prosecuting Authority and Legal Aid SA have opposed a Constitutional Court application by Sue Bennett and Gary Porritt on the quality of legal representation they would receive from Legal Aid SA in one of the country's biggest fraud cases. Legal Aid SA executive Peter Brits said Porritt and Bennett were only two of several hundred thousand people who had been granted legal aid. "If they were granted legal aid on the scale that they have in mind, it would have the effect of depleting (Legal Aid SA's) budget and thus excluding legal representation to thousands of other people. The focus should be on the provision of competent legal aid services and not the tariffs or the seniority of counsel appointed". - Business Day website

Tigon pair a problem - 19 October
To understand the matter of legal aid assistance to the accused, Gary Porritt and Sue Bennett, one should consider two issues - that is, whether they qualify for legal aid and whether legal assistance by Legal Aid SA amounts to competent legal representation to defend the accused against the charges in their R700m fraud trial. It is on record that Legal Aid SA argued before the trial court that the affluent lifestyle of the accused was at a level where they should be able to pay for their own defence. The accused have already spent R23m on their own defence. The court ordered us to provide legal aid and also ordered the number of legal counsel and the rates at which they should be remunerated. Now they want to go beyond the court order and challenge us to provide senior counsel and a legal team which they estimate will cost over R100m. - Article by Vidhu Vedalankar, CEO : Legal Aid South Africa on the Business Day website

Central Rand says Puno court case postponed - 13 October
JSE-listed gold junior Central Rand Gold (CRG) on Tuesday reported that the court case, in which black economic-empowerment firm Puno Gold was attempting to interdict CRG South Africa (CRGSA) from its activities, has been postponed until November 5. Puno was seeking to interdict CRGSA from proceeding with mining operations at its Consolidated Main Reef, Langlaagte, City Deep and Crown Mines tenements. The interdict decision was pending the final determination by arbitration award or court order of the interpretation of the provisions of the shareholders agreement entered into between Puno and Central Rand Gold Netherlands Antilles (CRGNV) in respect of CRGSA. - Creamer Media's Mining Weekly website

Jeppe tenants finalise legal move - 13 October
One hundred and fifty evicted tenants in the city centre will go to the Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday evening in a bid to overturn their eviction, the Centre for Applied Legal Studies said. Spokesperson Teboho Mosikili said in a statement that the tenants of Chung Hua Mansions on Jeppe Street would be in court at 9pm to try and obtain an urgent interdict against the owner of the property, a private security company, and the police. - IOL website

Selebi Case

Fallout expected as Selebi trial starts - 4 October
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) prosecutors last week took drug dealer Glenn Agliotti on a trial test run, firing questions at him to see if he was ready to face off with the lawyers of his old mate Jackie Selebi. The Sunday Independent also understands that former national police commissioner Selebi spent hours with his lawyers last week, finalising his defence against the corruption case the NPA is expected to put to him when his trial begins in the Johannesburg High Court tomorrow.  - IOL website

Selebi pleads not guilty - 5 October
In a session that lasted barely 30 minutes, Jackie Selebi pleaded not guilty to two counts of corruption and one of defeating the ends of justice.  - IOL website

SA trial will 'blow lid' on corruption in judiciary - 6 October
South Africa's former chief of police claimed that he was the victim of a "grand conspiracy" as a trial got under way yesterday that could reveal the extent of corruption in the country's judicial and criminal systems. Jackie Selebi, who is also a former head of Interpol, is accused of taking bribes from organised crime bosses, one of whom has been implicated in the murder of one of South Africa's richest men. - The Independent website

Selebi sticks to set-up claim - 5 October
The process to reveal the alleged double life of Jackie Selebi, South Africa's former Police Commissioner and former Interpol head, commenced yesterday in the South Gauteng High Court with him pleading fabrication, manipulation and a hidden agenda. He denied that "any conduct on his part amounted to the abuse of a position of authority or a breach of trust, or violation of a legal duty". Any dodgy deals, he claimed, were on the side of former National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP), Bulelani Ngcuka and the now defunct Scorpions. - The Citizen website

Why is Jackie Selebi’s putting on such a curious defense? - 6 October
Tthe claim by Selebi that he was being prosecuted after discovering that Pikoli and his predecessor, Bulelani Ngcuka, had improper business dealings with dodgy businessmen, does (at least at first glance) seem curious from a legal perspective. Selebi made these allegations not in an attempt to have the case against him thrown out. In the light of the SCA judgment in the Zuma case that a prosecution does not become unlawful "merely" because charges were brought for an ulterior purpose – as long as the State brought the charges in order to secure a criminal conviction – this is a wise move. But why is Selebi making these claims as part of his defence? Is he making a legal argument or is he rather playing a political game in order to garner sympathy by attacking two men who are rather unpopular with the crowd currently in charge of the country? It is difficult to say. - Pierre de Vos on the Constitutionally Speaking website

Top Scorpions no longer Selebi witnesses - 5 October
Jackie Selebi's prosecutors have more than doubled their list of potential witnesses against him - but cut several prominent Scorpions investigators from the final line-up. The witness list's new additions include the former police commissioner's alleged girlfriend, Nontombi Matshoba, acting prosecuting boss Mokotedi Mpshe, more than a dozen top police officials and controversial businessman and fugitive from justice Billy Rautenbach. Police top brass on the witness list include deputy national commissioner Tim Williams, crime intelligence boss Mulangi Mphego and head of detectives Rayman Lalla. - IOL website

Selebi playing victim, says Pikoli - 5 October
Axed prosecutions boss Vusi Pikoli on Monday afternoon accused former police chief Jackie Selebi of attempting to "deflect attention away from the very serious charges he is facing" and create the impression that he [Selebi] is a "victim". This comes after Selebi told the South Gauteng High Court on Monday he was being prosecuted after discovering that Pikoli and his predecessor, Bulelani Ngcuka, had improper business dealings with dodgy businessmen. - Mail & Guardian website

6 October 2009
Statement from Pikoli's lawyers. - IOL website

More claims against Ngcuka at Selebi trial - 6 October
Billy Rautenbach told Agliotti he had information incriminating Ngcuka that Selebi could use. Rautenbach gave him a file which contained a letter from the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) addressed to Rautenbach's attorney in London, signed by Ngcuka. "He wanted me to hand the document to the accused as it would serve good purpose for Billy Rautenbach and to discredit Bulelani Ngcuka. I handed it to the accused. He said he would look into the matter", said Agliotti. - The Richmark Sentinel website

Ngcuka rejects Selebi corruption claim : full text - 6 October
This morning the former national police commissioner, Mr Jackie Selebi, an accused in the
South Gauteng High Court made startling allegations of corruption against me during his plea explanation. Although I, as former national director of prosecutions and an officer of the court, would ordinarily ignore many of these assertions which are seek to create a sideshow. In this instance, however, I have reluctantly decided to respond to the allegations as they emanate from a very senior former law enforcement officer. I reject all these allegations with contempt. - Times Live website

Agliotti 'sympathised' with Selebi - 6 October
Agliotti began his testimony into his relationship with Selebi which he described as "good and cordial". He told the court how he "sympathised" with Selebi, at the time Minister of Social Welfare and Devlopment, who was tasked with "relocating a large number of ANC members that were in exile. - IOL website

'Agliotti charged $1m to access Selebi' - 6 October
Convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti charged slain mining magnate Brett Kebble a $1-million "consulting fee" for his access to former top cop Jackie Selebi, the High Court in Johannesburg heard on Tuesday. Agliotti testified how he was introduced to Kebble, his father Roger Kebble, and Kebble's confidante John Stratton by their head of security, Paul Stemmet. - IOL website

Agliotti warned not to incriminate himself - 6 October
The State warned convicted drug dealer Glenn Agliotti on Tuesday that he could incriminate himself while testifying in the corruption trial of former top cop Jackie Selebi. Addressing Judge Meyer Joffe, prosecutor Gerrie Nel asked that the court "warn the witness" that "he may be asked questions where he may incriminate himself and if he answers truthfully the court may grant him indemnity". - IOL website

Agliotti spill the beans - 6 October
From R225 000 in US$100 dollar bills for helping Zimbabwean businessman with a warrant of arrest against him to Louis Vuitton shoes from Hong Kong - Glenn Agliotti continued to spill the beans on the bribes he alleges to have handed over to Jackie Selebi. After court proceedings resumed after lunch today, self confessed drug dealer Agliotti detailed how he became the middle man between Rautenbach - who was, at the time, a fugitive from justice in South Africa - and the former police commissioner. - IOL website

Agliotti paid to 'sort out' Rautenbach's problems - 7 October
Former Hyundai boss Billy Rautenbach allegedly paid $100 000 for his "problems" in South Africa to disappear. Rautenbach, who is set to testify in the corruption trial of former police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi, featured prominently in the evidence of Selebi's friend and convicted drug dealer Glenn Agliotti in the South Gauteng High Court on Tuesday. - Mail & Guardian website

An ace up his sleeve? - 9 October
The National Prosecuting Authority's recruitment of fugitive Billy Rautenbach to testify against Jackie Selebi may be its intended ace-in-the-hole - but Rautenbach is a card the former police chief can play, too. Rautenbach clinched a plea bargain with the NPA last month, allowing him to return a decade after a warrant was issued for his arrest on multimillion-rand fraud and theft charges. Last week it became apparent the deal, which absolved him personally, included a silent codicil : testimony against Selebi. - Mail & Guardian website

State error gags Agliotti on secret report - 7 October
As a police informant nicknamed "Piccone", Agliotti coined R110 000 for his recruitment and for snitching on an R80 million mandrax deal orchestrated by a mysterious "Madame Cheng". He was yesterday afternoon about to spill the beans on what Selebi allegedly did in return for his cash and gifts when an error in the State's indictment effectively gagged him. Lawyers for the State and Selebi were due this morning to battle over whether Agliotti can give evidence about how Selebi allegedly showed him a top-secret UK intelligence report about his suspected involvement in international drug smuggling. Nel will have to persuade Johannesburg High Court Judge Meyer Joffe to allow him to lead this evidence, which concerns events outside the time period specified in the indictment against Selebi. - IOL wbsite

Nel apologises to court - 7 September
State prosecutor Gerrie Nel has apologised to the Johannesburg High Court for typing errors made in the charge sheet against Jackie Selebi. "I am embarrassed . . . it is a typing error in the charge sheet and it was repeated . . . I read it a hundred times, I missed it". However, Nel asked the court not to let technical errors stand in the way of justice being served and the facts of the trial coming to light. He then made an application to "remedy" the charge sheet. - IOL website

Court grants application by State to amend Selebi typo - 7 October
Judge Meyer Joffe granted an application by the State in the graft case of ex-top cop Jackie Selebi in the High Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday to fix a crucial typing error. "I'm going to grant the amendment," the judge said. - The Richmark Sentinel website

Agliotti introduced Kebble's security chief Nassif to Selebi - 7 October
Convicted drug dealer Glenn Agliotti recalled in court on Wednesday how he arranged meetings with ex-top cop Jackie Selebi and Clinton Nassif, who was the head of slain mining magnate Brett Kebble's security. Several meetings were held at Melrose Arch and Gallagher Estate office park, Agliotti told the High Court in Johannesburg. - The Richmark Sentinel website

Selebi trial : the plot thickens - 7 October
The third Top Secret report has surfaced at the Jackie Selebi trial, with Glenn Agliotti claiming the former police chief handed him an email that had been sent from Paul O'Sullivan to the Scorpions. - IOL website

Agliotti : Selebi gave me secret email - 7 October
Former police boss Jackie Selebi allegedly handed his friend Glenn Agliotti a copy of an email sent to the Scorpions by Selebi's nemesis Paul O'Sullivan in 2006. "I was playing golf when the accused [Selebi] phoned me. We met in the parking lot at the Makro in Woodmead [Johannesburg] where I parked next to his car. I got into the back of his car and he gave me the document", Agliotti testified in the South Gauteng High Court on Wednesday afternoon during Selebi's corruption trial. It wasn't clear how Selebi had obtained the email message. - Mail & Guardian website

Agliotti tells of how he asked Selebi for help more than once - 7 October
Glenn Agliotti, the state's star witness against Jackie Selebi, has testified about several instances when he called his then friend Selebi for help. He has detailed how he asked Selebi to help model Gina Athen's husband deal with an alleged blackmail attempt by reality TV personality 'Bad' Brad Wood. He also claims that he also introduced Selebi to businessman Gavin Varejes and security expert Clinton Nassif, upon their request. - Eye Witness News website

Selebi's lawyers to have a go at Agliotti - 8 October
Former police commissioner Jackie Selebi's lawyers are expected to rely heavily on video footage of interviews with Glenn Agliotti when they begin cross-examining the state's star witness on Thursday. Agliotti is expected to finalise his evidence in chief.  - Eye Witness News website

Agliotti breaks down - 8 October
Convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti briefly broke down in tears in the High Court in Johannesburg on Thursday, saying he did not want to testify against his former friend Jackie Selebi. "My Lord, it's not easy being here. I didn't want to be here to testify against my then friend and the accused," said Agliotti of his testimony in the former police chief's corruption trial. "Do you want a few moments to compose yourself?" asked Judge Meyer Joffe. - IOL website

Agliotti on why he paid Selebi R1-million - 8 October
Glenn Agliotti has finally spelt out why he allegedly paid Selebi around R1-million in cash and luxury gifts. "We were friends . . . I needed him in my business dealings . . . I needed him close to me . . . I needed him for purposes of the Kebbles. That's why I paid him". These words marked the end of his evidence in chief, which was in its third day today. After a short break, the cross examination is due to begin. - IOL website

High Court adjourns briefly for Agliotti to consult on Kebble murder questions - 8 September
The High Court in Johannesburg adjourned briefly on Thursday to allow witness Glenn Agliotti to get legal representation during questioning about the murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble. Agliotti, who was being cross-examined in the graft case of former top cop Jackie Selebi, is also an accused in the 2005 murder of Kebble. - The Richmark Sentinel website

Agliotti gets lawyer to ponder Kebble questions - 8 October
Agliotti, who was being cross-examined in the graft case of former top cop Jackie Selebi, is also an accused in the 2005 murder of Kebble. Selebi's lawyer, Jaap Cilliers, started questioning Agliotti about the murder accusations, at which point Agliotti asked Judge Meyer Joffe if he was allowed to answer, considering he was an accused in the matter. - Times Live website

Kebble : Selebi lawyer supports Agliotti - 8 October
Glenn Agliotti has received support in his defence for the murder of Brett Kebble from an unlikely source : Jackie Selebi's lawyer. Selebi's counsel Jaap Cilliers SC has slammed Agliotti's prosecution for Kebble's alleged suicide-by-hitman as "beyond understanding . . . unless there is some other motive we don't know about". - IOL website

Selebi, Agliotti "kind-hearted" men involved in charity work - 8 October
Ex-top cop Jackie Selebi and his former friend Glenn Agliotti were "kind-hearted" men involved in charity work while their prosecutors were hatching "absurd" plots against them, the High Court in Johannesburg heard on Thursday. This emerged in the cross-examination of Agliotti, testifying in Selebi's graft and defeating the ends of justice case. - The Richmark Sentinel website

Agliotti says he lied - 8 October
Drug kingpin Glenn Agliotti says he made a statement denying payments to former commissioner Jackie Selebi because he believed it was what the National Intelligence Agency wanted to hear. Agliotti has been trying to explain contradictory statements he made to the Scorpions and the National Intelligence Agency.  - Eye Witness News website

Kebble shooting a ploy to get Agliotti to testify : Selebi defence - 8 October
Glenn Agliotti says he agrees that prosecutors are keeping a sword over his head by delaying the Brett Kebble murder trial so that he can testify against Jackie Selebi. - Eye Witness News website

Agliotti backs up Selebi's claims against Pikoli and Ngcuka - 9 October
Agliotti has effectively backed up Selebi's claim that Ngcuka and Pikoli are themselves implicated in corruption. - Eye Witness News website

Selebi/Kebble relationship wasn't corrupt : Agliotti - 9 October
Drug kingpin Glen Agliotti has conceded, to his knowledge, the Kebble family never had a corrupt relationship with former police commissioner Jackie Selebi. - Eye Witness News website

Agliotti says he misled Selebi about crime links - 10 October
State witness Glenn Agliotti says he used his relationship with former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi for his own gain. Agliotti conceded that in almost all the cases he asked Selebi to assist him with he did so without the ex-police chief’s knowledge. He says he never gave Selebi the impression that he was involved in criminal activity and can understand why his friend was shocked when details about him were revealed in the media. - Eye Witness News website

Selebi trial : Judge, defence in terse exchange - 9 October
There was tension between the judge and the defence lawyer in former top cop Jackie Selebi's corruption trial in the High Court in Johannesburg today. "For this evidence to have any value you must be far more careful in what you are doing", Judge Meyer Joffe told defence counsel Jaap Cilliers when he asked witness Glenn Agliotti questions about what "returns" he gained from his association with Selebi. - Times Live website

Selebi trial : inside gangstas' paradise - 9 October
If only a quarter of what Glenn Agliotti told the South Gauteng High Court this week is true, we live in a gangsters’ paradise. Agliotti’s evidence would easily give any Sopranos episode a run for its money. The alleged plot is classic and dirty. The Mafia boss corrupts the top cop. The Mafia boss fuels the top cop’s extravagant lifestyle and showers him with clothing and cash. - Mail & Guardian website

Agliotti explains why he gave gifts to Jackie Selebi - 10 October
State witness Glenn Agliotti has claimed that giving gifts to friends without an improper motive does not constitute bribery. The self-confessed drug trafficker made the statement during his fourth day on the witness stand in Jackie Selebi's corruption and defeating the ends of justice trial. - Eye Witness News website

Agliotti claims could boost Selebi's case - 10 October
The state's main witness in the case against Jackie Selebi has undermined some of the prosecution's key allegations against the former police commissioner. - Eye Witness News website

Agliotti unravels - 10 October
Convicted druglord admits testimony against Selebi is a bid to save his own skin. In week one of the mammoth criminal trial of former national police commissioner Jackie Selebi, his friend and the state's star witness, Glenn Agliotti, found himself between a rock and a hard place. In exchange for spilling the beans on gifts and cash payments he made to the 59-year-old Selebi, Agliotti stands to get indemnity for a host of crimes, including fraud, corruption and theft. - Times Live website

Selebi trial to resume on Tuesday - 10 October
Jackie Selebi’s corruption trial will resume on Tuesday after his lawyers spend money gaining access to evidence. The former police commissioner’s lawyers want access to material from an investigation, nicknamed Empire K, in which the Scorpions probed the business dealings of slain mining magnate Brett Kebble. This investigation focused on fraud apparently carried out in the two companies, JCI and Randgold & Exploration, controlled by Kebble. - Eye Witness News website

Phumzile denies Agliotti gifts - 11 October
Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka has denied ever having received a gift from Glenn Agliotti or travelling with him on an international flight from Frankfurt to Johannesburg. Speaking through her spokeswoman, Unati Ngcuka, on Friday, the former deputy president said she would not know the 52-year-old convicted drug smuggler turned state witness in the Jackie Selebi trial "from a bar of soap" and that she "did not receive a pen from him". "Nor did she ever meet him, travel with him or speak to him," her spokeswoman said. - IOL website

Selebi lawyers to look into 'crucial' NPA documents - 12 October
Jackie Selebi's lawyers will meet prosecutors in Pretoria on Monday to view documents they believe are crucial to the defence of the former police commissioner. Selebi's trial was postponed on Friday because his advocate could not continue without the paperwork. - Eye Witness News website

Bad Brad, Selebi , murder plots and a sex tape - 12 October
Eyewitness News has learnt that controversial personality "Bad" Brad Wood is laying charges against Jackie Selebi, for allegedly taking money to have him dismissed from the police force. Wood’s name emerged in the corruption and defeating the ends of justice trial of the former police chief last week. Wood's attorney Ian Levitt says his client believes Selebi had him dismissed as an SAPS reservist. - Eye Witness News website

Agliotti admits lying to the Kebbles - 13 October
Drug-lord Glenn Agliotti admitted on Tuesday morning that he lied to the Kebble family about an improper relationship between former police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi and security boss Clinton Nassif. Still under cross-examination by Agliotti's defence counsel Jaap Cilliers, Agliotti admitted that he falsely boasted to the Kebbles and their mining company JCI that Nassif was part of the "Selebi team" to convince them to appoint Nassif as their head of security. Nassif, who is also set to testify against Selebi in the marathon trial, replaced former police informer Paul Stemmet as the Kebbles' head of security after being recommended by Agliotti. On Tuesday Agliotti agreed with Cilliers that he had brought Kebble and his former business partner John Stratton "under the impression that services were rendered by Nassif under the auspices of the commissioner". - Mail & Guardian website

Selebi was 'knocked', says defence - 13 October
Convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti took money intended to bribe former top cop Jackie Selebi and kept it for himself, the defence alleged in the High Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday. During cross-examination, defence lawyer Jaap Cilliers put forward that Selebi was a victim of a process called "knocking" when Agliotti took a "consulting fee" of around R12 million to R13 million for giving murdered mining magnate Brett Kebble and his associates access to Selebi. - IOL website

Agliotti admits to using Selebi's name, but only to scam the Kebbles - 13 October
State witness Glenn Agliotti has admitted he repeatedly lied by using former police commissioner Jackie Selebi’s name to secure money. - Eye Witness News website

'Mandela's confidante framed innocent man' - 13 October
Glenn Agliotti has fingered Nelson Mandela's confidant Yusuf Surtee in the framing of an innocent man on drug charges. Agliotti has told the Johannesburg High Court that he introduced Surtee to former Brett Kebble security chief Paul Stemmet to help him resolve "difficulties" he had with an as-yet unidentified man in Cape Town. - IOL website

Nassif lied about bribes : Agliotti - 13 October
Convicted drug dealer Glenn Agliotti has reinforced his testimony that he did not receive improper assistance from former police chief Jackie Selebi. Still under cross examination from Selebi's advocate, Jaap Cilliers, Agliotti testified today that statements made by Brett Kebble security consultant Clinton Nassif were untrue. Nassif is himself a convicted criminal, and may be perceived to be as unreliable a witness as Agliotti. - Moneyweb website

Lawyer eyes 'crooked' Agliotti and friends - 13 October
A story of lies and alleged crimes involving convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti and his associates emerged during the corruption trial of former top cop Jackie Selebi on Tuesday. In the Johannesburg High Court, defence lawyer Jaap Cilliers focused on alleged underhanded transactions between Agliotti, mining magnate Brett Kebble, and his associate John Stratton, as well as security operators Paul Stemmet and Clinton Nassif. - IOL website

Agliotti lists his lies - 14 October
Glenn Agliotti, the state's star witness against Jackie Selebi, has admitted he lied to get the best possible deal for himself and to make some cash. But Agliotti claims he is not "the only liar", and has accused the police and other key state witnesses in the former national police commissioner's corruption trial of lying under oath. - IOL website

Glenn Agliotti lambasted for lying - 14 October
Convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti spent Wednesday morning bearing the brunt of questions from defence counsel Jaap Cilliers, who again lambasted him for lying to the court. "You look the honourable court in the eye and you still lie", Cilliers said. When questioned, Agliotti said, "It's not my verbiage". - Mail & Guardian website

Video fight in Selebi case - 14 October
To play or not to play, this is the question that stopped proceedings in the Jackie Selebi trial this morning. At stake is the notorious video recording made by the police of Glenn Agliotti in January 2008 and shows him turning against the Scorpions and exonerating the former top cop of corruption.
Selebi's defence team are fighting for it to be shown in open court, claiming forbidding it would jeopardise Selebi's constitutional right to a fair trial. They are adamant the video is crucial and that it "may well lead to the end of the state's case". State prosecutor, Gerrie Nel, has objected to the video being disclosed, saying it was obtained illegally as Agliotti insisted it was strictly "off the record". - IOL website

Agliotti's memory sometimes fails him - 14 October
A faulty memory could explain inconsistencies in his statement, convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti told the High Court in Johannesburg on Wednesday. - The Richmark Sentinel website

Adv Cilliers tore into Agliotti's claims - 14 October
The lavish R30 000 Interpol dinner that Glenn Agliotti claims he sponsored for Jackie Selebi never happened. So contends selebi's advocate Jaap Cilliers SC, who this afternoon tore into Agliotti's claims that he had offered to pay for the 2005 dinner, which he said Selebi planned to use to lobby for his election as the head of Interpol. - IOL website

Selebi would have been "astonished" by improper payments from Agliotti - 14 October
Former police chief Jackie Selebi would have been "astonished" to be offered improper payments by drug lord Glenn Agliotti, the High Court in Johannesburg heard on Wednesday. The claim, by defence lawyer Jaap Cilliers, came as his cross examination of Agliotti continued in Selebi's corruption trial. - The Richmark Sentinel website

Agliotti video admitted - 15 October
A 2008 video recording between convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti and police and NIA representatives has provisionally been admitted as evidence in the corruption trial of former top cop Jackie Selebi. - The Richmark Sentinel website

Agliotti : Scorpions f*cked up my life - 15 October
Graft-accused Jackie Selebi's former friend Glenn Agliotti was viewed speaking about how his life was ruined in a video recording screened in the High Court in Johannesburg on Thursday. - The Richmark Sentinel website

Kebble murderers are free now : Agliotti - 15 October
Glenn Agliotti, the only accused in mining magnate Brett Kebble's murder case, maintains he is innocent while the real killers walk free. "I had no role to play in it," Agliotti says in a video recording played in the Johannesburg High Court on Thursday during the corruption trial of former top cop Jackie Selebi. Instead, he alleges the Directorate of Special Operations - also known as the Scorpions - had no interest in convicting those responsible for the murder. - IOL website

Scorpions 'obsessed' with bringing down Selebi - 15 October
The Scorpions "compared my case to John Gotti's" and were "obsessed" with bringing down former police National Commisioner Jackie Selebi. That was some of the damning remarks by drug-lord Glenn Agliotti during the first half-hour of a video interview being screened in the South Gauteng High Court on Thursday afternoon. - Mail & Guardian website

Scorpions just wanted me and Selebi : Agliotti video - 15 October
In a video shown in court on Wednesday, convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti claims that the state's case against him and former police commissioner Jackie Selebi was purely political. He alleged that the Scorpions were desperate to topple Selebi because they believed it would help them stay a separate entity to the police. Despite identifying this motive, Agliotti went on to allege that the Scorpions and the prosecuting authorities had allowed themselves to be used by former airports security boss Paul O' Sullivan to assist his own personal dispute with Selebi. - Moneyweb website

M&G denies attending Scorpions 'indaba' - 15 October
The Mail & Guardian's editor-in-chief, Nic Dawes, denied on Thursday that a journalist of the paper attended an "indaba" with the Scorpions to discuss campaigning against former police National Commissioner Jackie Selebi. - Mail & Guardian website

Statement at http://www.mg.co.za/uploads/2009/10/15/selebipress.pdf

'Kebble practised his suicide' - 15 October
Slain mining magnate Brett Kebble had dry runs to practise his assisted suicide, convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti alleges in a video recording before court on Thursday. "It was an assisted suicide . . . Now we know Brett got into such financial trouble, he could not see the way out… He then . . . planned it with [security operative Clinton] Nassif and they planned it, they prayed about it, they had dry runs," says Agliotti. - News24 website

'This Nassif is a piece of s**t. He's lying' - 15 October
Agliotti said the Scorpions eventually arrested Nassif on insurance fraud charges and put him in "Sun City" prison. "They locked him up and he said he will give everything on the Kebble murder and everything else he knows. He wanted 204 [indemnity] on tax, fraud, murder, drugs, the whole thing. He then told the Scorpions who had murdered Brett and why". - IOL website

My R1m funded murder, says businessman - 16 October
A prominent Joburg businessman has admitted that his cash funded the R1 million killing of Brett Kebble - but maintains that it was by accident. "I didn't know what I was paying for," James Murray, a former business partner of self-admitted Kebble shooting mastermind Clint Nassif, told The Star yesterday. Murray claims he was tricked into paying Kebble's hitmen when he attempted to pay back money he owed to Nassif after a failed property deal. - IOL website

Judge Meyer Joffe : "At best this trial is confusing" - 16 October
Friday is the last day of week two in the corruption trial of former top cop Jackie Selebi, and the first witness - convicted drug trafficker Glenn Agliotti - still remains on the stand. On Friday, defence lawyer Jaap Cilliers' cross-examination of Agliotti in the High Court in Johannesburg was about minute details of dates on which various payments were made to different people. - The Richmark Sentinel website

Selebi reveals alibi - 16 October
Advocate Jaap Cilliers claimed in court on Friday that his client, former police Commissioner Jackie Selebi, could not have received a cash payment of R200 000 from Glenn Agliotti. Still under cross examination by Cilliers, it became clear that Agliotti was not sure if he paid R200 000 in cash to Selebi on December 13 2004, as he has previously testified. - Moneyweb website

Agliotti stands by his story - 16 October
Jackie Selebi's advocate has accused drug-lord Glenn Agliotti - again - of lying. Senior counsel Jaap Cilliers put it to Agliotti on Friday morning that he lied about dates on which Selebi allegedly collected cash parcels from his Midrand office. A tired-looking Agliotti told Judge Meyer Joffe in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg he might have been wrong about the dates, but that he "definitely" stands by his story that he gave Selebi money. - Mail & Guardian website

Mbeki's shoes in the spotlight - 16 October
Jackie Selebi has denied that his one-time friend Glenn Agliotti paid for a pair of size 7 designer shoes for then President Thabo Mbeki. Instead the former top cop maintains that it was him who paid for his high-powered political ally's "small and broad" footwear. - IOL website

Agliotti gets a long weekend - 16 October
The corruption case of former top cop Jackie Selebi has been postponed until Tuesday in the High Court in Johannesburg. Judge Meyer Joffe ruled on Friday that because of a death in the family of prosecutor Gerrie Nel, court would resume for its tenth day on Tuesday. Defence lawyer Jaap Cilliers also asked for some time to go through notes before concluding his cross-examination of State witness Glenn Agliotti. - IOL website

Selebi knew nothing, claims Agliotti - 20 October
State witness Glenn Agliotti says he used former police head Jackie Selebi's name - without him knowing it - to get money, according to a recording viewed in the Johannesburg High Court on Tuesday. - IOL website

Third tape questioned in Selebi trial - 20 October
The South Gauteng High Court is hearing heated argument about a City Pressnewspaper article which claims the existence of a third secret video tape of Glen Agliotti. Jackie Selebi’s defense wants to question Agliotti about the report but neither the defense nor prosecution have copies of the tape. The reporter claims to have seen another video filmed in January last year featuring Agliotti and policeman Mulangi Mphego. - Eye Witness News website

Judge outraged in Selebi trial - 20 October
The existence of yet another covert video recording of Glenn Agliotti has outraged the judge in the Jackie Selebi corruption trial and threatens to delay proceedings. The revelations, made in the City Press newspaper and presented to court this morning, are crucial to Selebi's defence as they show that Agliotti may have lied under oath as to how the notorious January 2008 meetings came about. - IOL website

A 'third force' at work in Selebi trial? - 20 October
Is there a "third force" at work in the trial of former top cop Jackie Selebi? That was the suggestion by Judge Meyer Joffe in the South Gauteng High Court on Tuesday morning when he grilled Selebi's lawyer Jaap Cilliers about his quotation of a City Press article. Cilliers handed to Joffe, witness Glenn Agliotti and the state copies of a front-page article in Sunday's City Press, which details an alleged second video of Agliotti's interviews with South Africa's intelligence bosses. - Mail & Guardian website

Judge suspects influence in Selebi case - 20 October
Judge Meyer Joffe says it appears that somebody has showna video to a City Press reporter with the intention of influencing proceedings in the trial of former police Commissioner Jackie Selebi. Selebi's advocate Jaap Cilliers on Tuesday drew the court's attention to an article which appeared in the City Press this weekend. The article claims that City Press reporters have seen a "top-secret" video recording which "reveals how Glenn Agliotti, the state's star witness in the corruption trial of former national police Commissioner Jackie Selebi, has been lying under oath". - Moneyweb website

Selebi claims Agliotti presented one gift - 20 October
Former police commissioner Jackie Selebi says Glen Agliotti did buy him a gift on one occasion - a Swiss army knife but the state’s star witness refuted this. - Eye Witness News website

State to grill Agliotti's ex - 20 October
Glenn Agliotti's ex-girlfriend is expected to be the next witness to take the stand against former top cop Jackie Selebi. And, after Selebi's defence team attacked both Agliotti's credibility and the factual accuracy of his testimony, Diane Muller will be under pressure to bolster the State's seemingly weakened corruption case against Selebi. - IOL website

Selebi asks judge to recuse himself - 21 October
Former police chief Jackie Selebi on Wednesday requested to apply for the recusal of Judge Meyer Joffe from his corruption trial in the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg. Defence lawyer Jaap Cilliers told the judge he had the "unpleasant task" of applying for the judge to be removed. Affidavits will be filed on October 28. The court will hear heads of argument on October 29. Court has been stood down until then. - News24 website

Speculation over latest Selebi appeal - 21 October
Prosecutors will not say if they believe Jackie Selebi's latest legal move is a delaying tactic while the defense refuses to reveal why it wants the judge in the trial to withdraw. - Eye Witness News website

What was last straw for Selebi's advocate? - 22 October
Jackie Selebi "all along" harboured suspicions that the judge trying him for corruption was biased against him. But it was a heated tiff between Judge Meyer Joffe and Selebi's defence advocate over the alleged leaking of a third secret video of State witness Glenn Agliotti that persuaded the former police chief that the judge had to go. - IOL website

Prosecutors back judge in Selebi trial - 21 October
Prosecutors in former police commissioner Jackie Selebi's corruption trial say they believe the judge has conducted himself properly so far. - Eye Witness News website

Selebi lawyers prepare arguments for recusal of judge - 22 October
Former police commissioner Jackie Selebi's legal team will now be preparing their argument for the recusal of the judge in his trial. - Eye Witness News website

Selebi trial could start from scrach if judge withdraws - 22 October
The move is a calculated gamble. If Judge Meyer Joffe refuses to recuse himself it could make advocate Jaap Cilliers' ride even bumpier than it has already been. In the unlikely scenario that Joffe agrees to withdraw, the entire trial could start from scratch. - Eye Witness News website

InfoUpdate : an Information Service supplied by the KwaZulu-Natal Law Society