The South African man who is believed to be the link between Louis Nchindo and alleged South African intelligence operatives who claimed that the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Services (DIS) was plotting to bring Nchindo down spoke to the Sunday Standard this week about his last meeting with the deceased multi-millionaire.
Nchindo’s South African confidante, known only as Malcolm, however, would not discuss details of the meeting between Nchindo and the alleged South African intelligence agents on the morning of Thursday February 4th, three days before Nchindo disappeared.
Malcolm told Sunday Standard that he met Nchindo on the morning of February 4th.
“He disappeared for some time to go to ABSA bank before proceeding to Lanseria Airport where he boarded the plane to Botswana.”
Malcolm would not discuss the meeting between Nchindo and the alleged South African intelligence agents saying, “I can not discuss that right now, I am with people, besides, I had a long night. Please call me after an hour.”
Sunday Standard called back after an hour, but Malcolm would not answer his phone.
Information passed to the Sunday Standard reveals that Nchindo met the alleged intelligence agents on the morning of February 4th in Johannesburg. The meeting is believed to have discussed a story which the intelligence agents claimed to have leaked to the Sunday Times in South Africa, detailing the plan to “bring down” Nchindo. It is understood that the agents promised Nchindo that the story would be appearing in the Sunday Times of February 7th and agreed to meet him in Kasane on the Sunday.
They were to bring with them the dossier on the plot by the DIS, their lawyer friend and the South African cabinet minister against Nchindo.
After the meeting, Nchindo is believed to have driven to ABSA bank in Johannesburg before proceeding to Lanseria Airport where he boarded a plane to Gaborone. On the afternoon of February 4th Nchindo flew from Gaborone to Kasane.
Shortly before he left for Kasane, Nchindo was excited that his case against the state was now drawing to a close and that the Sunday Times would be running a story clearing his name following a story that had previously appeared in the South African Sunday World claiming that he had impregnated South African teenagers.
The story clearing Nchindo’s name did not appear in the Sunday Times and the newspaper offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg insist that they never had such a story in their news diary. The Sunday Standard has not been able to establish if the alleged South African intelligence operatives honoured their Kasane date with Nchindo.
While in Kasane, Nchindo is understood to have faxed his family and copied the letter to President Lt Gen Ian Khama, repeating the allegations he had made to the Sunday Standard weeks earlier, that the DIS, a certain local lawyer and a South African minister and his businesswoman wife were conspiring to bring him down.
Nchindo’s son, Garvas, told a memorial service at the Anglican Cathedral in Gaborone last Wednesday that he spoke to his father on Sunday February 7th, the day he was to meet the South African intelligence agents and the day the story clearing his name was to appear in the Sunday Times. Garvas says his father “informed me of his realization that the information he had been receiving over the past two weeks, which had been creating a strong feeling of insecurity within him was indeed false”. After our conversation, I called him back to check on him and he said he was fine. On Monday I was informed that Dad had left his house on Sunday afternoon at around 4 and had not returned.
Nchindo is believed to have established contact with the alleged South African intelligence agents following the story that appeared in the Sunday World about two months ago claiming that Nchindo had impregnated South African young girls.
Malcolm is understood to be Nchindo’s spokesperson in the story who told the Sunday World that Nchindo was in Russia. After making contact with the alleged intelligence agents, Nchindo tried to rope in the Sunday Standard and attorney Dick Bayford to help break the story of the plot.
At the time, Bayford was worried that the trip may have been a trick to lure Nchindo into a trap in South Africa. He suggested that Sunday Standard should go and he would stay behind to cover our backs in case something happened. The trip was, however, postponed and on the eve of the departure, Sunday Standard proposed to Nchindo and Jacob Sesinyi that the paper too should stay behind.
