investigators

Investigators questioned how Mogashoa could have commissioned Lushaba's affidavit because Mogashoa had knocked off early that morning and could not have commissioned the affidavit.

“The allegation was that how could he have commissioned Lushaba 's affidavit because apparently on that morning he had knocked off . So our investigators could not understand how he would have commissioned Lushaba 's affidavit .”

The relationship between prosecutors and investigators was not good, there were conflicts between these investigators and Crime Intelligence, and the cases were rushed to court with mistakes and loopholes, resulting in poorly conducted investigations.

“the relationship between the prosecutors and investigators was not good ... they made a lot of mistakes here ... it appeared they were rushing this case ... there is some conflicts between these investigators and investigators in Crime Intelligence ... The two cases were not supposed to be in court ... The cases were not properly investigated”

The process for handling the referral involved copying statements, interrogating affidavits to decide if they fell within ID mandate, drafting certificate of mandate, applying for section 28(13) investigation authorization, and drafting an investigation plan with investigators.

“We were to make copies of the statement, the prosecutor and myself, that she had handed to us and return the original to her office...The prosecutors were to interrogate the affidavit and decide whether it fell within the mandate of ID...Once the certificate of mandate was signed, the prosecutors were to attend to drafting the application of authorisation of a section 28(13) investigation...and once authorisation was signed, we were to consult with the investigators and draft an investigation plan.”

A letter from a predecessor set out why certain matters should come to IDAC and specified which investigators should carry those matters.

“So if one looks at the letter that my predecessor wrote, she did set out why those matters should come to IDAC. And I would assume that if the counterpart to whom she wrote felt, we get you, but we are on it, we are good, if we need resources, we would rather ask you for resources, but we are good on ours. They did not do that. They gave over the matters, plus they gave over the investigators, their very own resources to come and do the investigations in the then ID.”

Files and investigations are owned by the institution mandated to investigate, not by individual investigators.

“The files and the investigations are owned by the institution, which has the mandate to investigate. No investigator owns any investigation.”

The investigators who were seconded to IDAC did not bring their investigations with them as investigations and investigative files belong to the institution, not to investigators personally.

“They do not have investigations. They get seconded. Paragraph 3 tells us which cases go to IDAC. There are no “their” investigations, surely, because when we express ourselves in those terms, it suggests that these investigators own the investigations and that is wholly wrong. It is the institution that owns the investigations.”

Adv Johnson is aware that Mr O'Sullivan may have had some engagement from time to time with IDAC investigators, but he himself has had no such conversations.

“I am aware ... that he would have had from time to time engagements with investigators. ... I have not had conversations.”

ADV Johnson acknowledged that by signing the summons, he implicitly trusted the investigators and opened himself up to potential manipulation since he relied on their briefing and did not independently verify evidence.

“you open yourself up for potential manipulation by some of your investigators because you trust them implicitly”

Investigators may conduct investigations of individuals not authorized by the person being questioned and possibly unrelated to the subject matter.

“they may well be conducting investigations of individuals that are not authorized by you and that may possibly not be related to a subject matter”

Investigators abused section 28(13) preliminary investigation to conduct a full investigation before authorization and obtained documents from SAPS to prepare an A1 statement in January.

“I will say the investigators in this case abused the section 28(13) preliminary investigation to conduct a full-blown investigation before you so authorise them. They have gone so far as to obtain documents from SAPS to prepare an A1 statement in January.”

Investigators exercise their powers subject to the control and direction of the prosecutor; they are not free agents making independent decisions.

“Investigators exercise their powers subject to your control and direction. They are not free agents who go about making decisions... It is subject to your control and direction.”

Mr Adams was contacted and prepared to cooperate, and investigators and a prosecutor conducted an interview with him following section 28 procedures.

“In this specific case, Mr Adams was contacted, he was prepared to cooperate, and the investigators and a prosecutor then went ahead to interview him.”

The head of the Investigating Directorate has authority to override decisions made by investigators if they disagree with such decisions.

“I have the authority to then say this cannot proceed, this must not happen ... you have to correct this”

Lieutenant General Khumalo cooperated with investigators at ORTIA and was taken to Brooklyn Police Station without incident, accompanied by his security detail and treated respectfully.

“Upon finding him at OR TIA, the two investigators explained who they were, why they were there, why he was sought, and what his rights were. They then asked Lieutenant General S D Khumalo to accompany them to Brooklyn Police Station in Pretoria. He cooperated and was taken there. There was nothing dramatic about it. At all times during his arrest, Lieutenant General Khumalo's security detail was with him. He was not threatened and was accorded all the respect that could be accorded a person of his profile. On the way from OR TIA to Brooklyn Police Station, the investigators had occasion to stop and get something to drink from a filling station at the request of Lieutenant General Khumalo for himself.”

The powers of investigators include search, seizure, arrest, execution of warrants, securing attendance in court, service or execution of subpoenas, and investigation of offences.

“...the powers that the investigators may have, which is search, seizure, arrest, execution of warrants, securing the attendance of persons in court, the service or execution of subpoenas, and the investigation of offences.”

The head of the Investigating Directorate has the power to override decisions made by investigators.

“where we land is that, do we land at a place where now we understand each other that you have the power to override their decisions? That is correct.”

During the plea deal, there are negotiations beyond the wording of the deal involving investigators, the client and attorneys where information, names, and potential suspicions come up.

“During a plea deal, there is much more than the simple wording in the plea deal that takes place. There is other negotiations that happens between the investigators, the client, and the attorney and during those investigations, there is names that come up, there is information given, etcetera and during that negotiations...”

The whistle-blower stands by her original report and every finding the investigators made at that time, but is interested in retaining her anonymity and not being known as the instigator of the investigation.

“She stands by her report ? Absolutely. She stands by everything the investigators did ? At her instance, she does. She was just interested in retaining the anonymity and not be known that she was the instigator of the entire investigation.”

Consultations with the whistle-blower resolved issues around additional factual clarity in the investigation which were not contained in the original report, and her testimony serves to cure hearsay evidence by providing direct factual clarity.

“The question that arose was, in light of some facts not contained in the original report, can the investigators purport to give clarity on that? ... if she avails herself to deal with all material facts around that issue, then any hearsay that would have been testified to would be cured by her own appearance.”

General Senona had the key and the investigators present were not assisting Brigadier Nyuswa; they were continuing with their normal duties.

“General Senona has the key and the investigators are there, and they were not even assisting in what I was doing. They were just continuing with their normal duties.”

Colonel Jacob states he was asked to include specific details in his statement by the investigators via email correspondence.

“When drafting the statement, I was part of the email that was sent to me by the investigators.”

Mr Mogotsi frequently missed appointments, disrupting the schedules of the evidence leader and investigators, causing frustration as explained by Mr Chaskalson.

“Mr Mogotsi's missing appointments was continually missing these appointments and disrupting the schedules of the evidence leader and the investigators”

Investigators compensated somewhat for the absence of the LCRC at the crime scenes by taking photos, making contemporaneous notes, and properly sealing exhibits.

“But the investigators themselves complied with directives by having contemporaneous notes, by taking photos of the exhibits, and properly securing it by sealing the exhibits there and then where it was recovered from the container.”

The presence of LCRC at seizure scenes is imperative for lifting fingerprints and touch DNA, tasks investigators cannot perform.

“It is very important, Commissioners, especially when it comes to the prospects of lifting fingerprints and touch DNA, which cannot be performed by an investigator. Although an investigator can take photos, compile into a photo album, and ensure chain of custody is maintained, investigators are not capable of performing that two very important aspects.”

In the Durban cocaine seizure of 20 kg, the absence of the LCRC was somewhat offset by the actions taken by investigators at the scene, though some tasks were performed by investigators only because they had to be at the scene before criminals.

“In this case, I think you specifically pointed out that there is risk of non-attendants on the LCRC not attending the scene was somehow ameliorated by the actions of the investigators themselves. ... But the reason why the investigators moved in here and conducted the investigations was that they had to beat the criminals to the vessel, and specifically the container.”

In the Port Shepstone seizure, investigators did not take similar steps to cover for the absence of the LCRC as were taken in the Durban case; only a few photos were taken, and the work was described as shoddy and hurried.

“By no means, Commissioners. There were just a few photos taken of the exhibits there at the police station, at Isipingo, few photos of the exhibits in the container, and shoddy work, to say the least. It was as if the investigators were in a hurry.”

Investigators would not have access to dockets physically held by General Khumalo, potentially delaying investigations.

“during that time, if all dockets have physically been taken to the General, that means the investigators involved... would have no access to them and would not be able to conduct investigations on them”

Accused are considered dangerous contract killers and there were alleged attempts to bribe investigators, prosecutors, and/or the magistrate to get them out on bail.

“I informed them that the accused were considered dangerous contract killers and that there were alleged attempts to bribe investigators, prosecutors, and/or the magistrate.”

The information about bribe attempts came from a source alleging a lawyer was given a bag full of money to approach investigators and others to get the accused out on bail.

“the information was, remember, the attorney is already given a bag full of money. We must approach the investigators. If he fails, the prosecutors or the magistrate, because that is how disparate they showed that they want these people out on bail.”