Advocate Gerrie Nel, Head of Afriforum's private prosecuting unit is seen at a media briefing on the first person Afriforum will privately prosecute, Duduzane Zuma, son of the South African President, who was involved in a fatal accident which killed Phumzile Dube, 17 October 2017, Pretoria. Picture: Jacques Nelles
Struggle veteran Barry Gilder yesterday tweeted an extract from one of his books after Advocate Gerrie Nel revealed at a press conference that he and AfriForum intended to prosecute EFF leader Julius Malema on corruption charges during his time as the ANC Youth League president.
It is unlikely the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) will issue them with a certificate to allow them to prosecute privately, but the announcement has nevertheless heaped pressure on the NPA to act on the open case, which was taken off the court roll years ago, but was not resolved. The NPA says it will make a decision about whether to re-initiate prosecution by mid-August.
Gilder went into exile in 1976, where he underwent military and intelligence training with the ANC, and served in the ANC’s intelligence structures until his return to South Africa in 1991.
After 1994 he served as deputy head of the South African Secret Service, as deputy head of the National Intelligence Agency, as director-general of the department of home affairs and as South Africa’s co-ordinator of intelligence until his retirement in 2007.
He is now the director of operations at the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection.
In his book Songs and Secrets (2012), which documents the liberation struggle and the transition to democracy, Gilder wrote about an encounter he once had with Nel, a man known as “The Bulldog”. Nel gained public esteem and respect for his no-nonsense approach to prosecuting Paralympian Oscar Pistorius for the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.
Gilder, however, claims that he has never been as much of a fan of the veteran prosecutor.
He claims Nel once threatened to have him locked up and then boasted that “this is what we used to do to your comrades in the old days – your comrades who refused to testify against their comrades. They used to sit in jail until they eventually agreed to testify.”
The matter appears to relate to when Gilder testified in the Jackie Selebi corruption trial in 2010.
Nel has never responded to the allegation from Gilder, despite it being years old. It is unknown if he will offer his side of the story.
On Twitter, however, the extract has caused a flurry, with many saying it confirmed their suspicions about Nel’s motives against Malema.