South African prominent advocate Gerrie Nel, nicknamed “Bulldog” for his tenacity in the courtroom, will most likely be hogging the limelight this week as he leads the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) and the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crime (DCEC) in the famous butterfly case.
But lurking in the shadows, behind the limelight is perfect fodder for a thrilling cloak-and-dagger novel where, usually towards the last pages, you are still wondering: “Who’s the bad guy here?”
There is Wilhelmina Maswabi the alleged spy femme fatale accused of looting public coffers, then there is the bickering between the DCEC, DPP and the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DIS) over the high-profile case. As if that is not complicated enough, an audio tape of a closed-door meeting between the three agencies, leaked to the public last month threw a stinker into the mix.
The audio tape was released weeks after a Savingram, dated 18 January 2021, from DPP Director, Stephen Tiroyakgosi, addressed to the DCEC Director General, Tymon Katlholo, proposed that a team from DPP led by Israel should hold a meeting with its representatives from DCEC to map the way forward was issued.
Tiroyakgosi informed Katlholo that an investigation surrounding the creation of the passport should be carried out. “It is important to have a statement from the former Director of Immigration (Deputy Speaker Mabuse Pule) to establish the role he played in enabling the issuing of these passports,” said Tiroyakgosi.
Then there is a cast of international business interests, non-governmental Afrocentric pressure groups, local politicians and Gerrie Nel, the alleged face of Afriforum and the Afrikaner Broderbund.
The Wilhelmina Maswabi case has attracted international attention following some charges which link her to South African powerful business woman Bridgette Motsepe, former President Lt Gen Ian Khama and former DIS Director General Isaac Kgosi.
And now, joining the fray is South Africa’s Non-Governmental Organisation, ActNow, which is planning a protest march to the Botswana High Commission in South Africa and the Afriforum head office in solidarity with Motsepe.
A source inside ActNow told the Sunday Standard that the powerful South African NGO is divided over the issue after it emerged that its deputy Chairman Abner Mosaase has been meeting Bridgette Motsepe and Malcolm X behind the back of the Chairman Tebogo Lerole.
Also roiling the waters are reports that a Botswana Patriotic Front (BPF) executive committee member who is close to former President Lt Gen Ian Khama was among the first people to get hold of the leaked audio tape of the meeting between the DIS, DCEC and DPP discussing the butterfly case. He allegedly offered it to Malcolm X and Motsepe for a fee as the silver bullet to kill the high-profile case and suggested that they leak it to the public.
When Gery Nel arrives at Sir Seretse Khama today (Sunday) as the lead advocate in the last of a series of corruption cases against Maswabi, he will find that the story of the behind-the-scenes cloak and dagger intrigues and political maneuvers has already outgrown the story of the actual contents of the docket.
According to court records, the State is now left with a charge of living beyond means and possession of unexplained property. Sources reveal that Gerrie Nil will be in Botswana for a week.
