Directorate of Intelligence Services has cordoned off former President Ian Khama’s house pending a warrant of search and seizure application which is before Court of Appeal judge Stephen Gaongalelwe.
When arguing the matter, lawyer representing DIS Sifelane Thapelo in his submissions said the state has sealed Khams’s official state house. There is no how he or his staff can have access entry into the house pending search and seizure warrant.
Thapelo said the DIS armoury is also sealed because some unknown firearms were found in the DIS armoury.
He said it is not clear who smuggled the firearms into the armoury and that is why they are seeking CoA intervention to access Khams’s CCTV cameras.
He told the court that defence lawyers in their arguments were turning a blind eye on events that transpired between 23 October 2021 and 19 November 2021.
Thapelo said the urgency of the matter only came in after discovery of some firearms and weapons of war at the DIS armoury and Khamas’s decision to skip the country subsequent to the first search and while the investigations on his other premises were ongoing.
He said the High Court judge Rainer Busang misdirected himself by not taking into account the affidavits which talks about discovery of some firearms at DIS armoury located within Khams’s official house during investigations and how state house number 4 was erroneously omitted from the first search and seizure warrant.
In his relief sought, Thapelo pleaded with the court to grant them a warrant to search Khamas’s house and access the disc of the CCTV installed at Khama’s house.
He said this would enable them to know if anyone had smuggled some guys into DIS armoury.
In their submissions, Ian Khams’s lawyers Ramalepa attorneys roped in Unoda Mack to assist in the matter.
In his defence Unoda Mack said there was no way the state could have omitted or even by mistake to list Khama’s house on the search warrant because he is the principal of the house.
Mack said the request from DIS is just an afterthought because even judge Busang’s judgment condemned their failure to disclose specific items or firearms to be searched and seized at Khama’s house.
Court of Appeal Judge, Stephen Gaongalelwe has reserved the judgment to a date to be announced.
