Rogue unit report ‘a hatchet job to unseat Gordhan’

The inspector-general of intelligence (IGI) report on media allegations against the special operations unit and branches of the State Security Agency (SSA) is a “hatchet job” trying to unseat Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan.

That’s according to the former head of enforcement at SA Revenue Service (Sars), Gene Ravele, who claimed the report was not a correct reflection of what he had told the panel.

“I can’t continue to keep quiet when my name is continuously being dragged through the mud,” Ravele told The Citizen.

The report was partially based on allegations made in the widely discredited “Project Snowman” report by disgruntled former Sars employee Michael Peega, responsible with triple agent Belinda Walter for the “rogue unit” allegations that severely impacted Sars’ investigative abilities.

According to the report, Ravele had “intimated” the former acting commissioner was protecting former group executive Johann van Loggerenberg, who had leaked Sars information to the media and that the covert unit was “intended to cripple the then National Intelligence Agency” (forerunner to today’s SSA), among other claims.

“The IGI investigation was into claims made by us (Sars) that there was a SSA rogue unit and some elements in the Hawks, crime intelligence and the National Prosecuting Authority that were trying to destabilise Sars,” Ravele said.

“I appeared twice before the panel and on the first day spent probably 80% of the time talking about the destabilisation of Sars. Yet the report doesn’t mention anything of the sort.”

When Ravele appeared for a second time, then-IGI Faith Radebe had already spoken to the people he had claimed were responsible for the destabilisation at Sars.

“Her opening statement was that I had painted a picture of Sars as a victim of a SSA-led destabilisation when, in fact, I hid from the panel the fact that I was running a covert intelligence-gathering machinery,” said Ravele.

“I told the IG that [former Sars commissioner Tom] Moyane had asked me to compile a report on the Unit, which I did and duly submitted to him. I then told her that I’ll seek permission from Moyane if I could share the report with the IG.

“After permission was granted, I went back to the IG and gave her the report. Some of the things that the report disputed was that Zuma’s house was raided or bugged. The reports by former members of the Unit were annexures in my report to Moyane.”

Radebe appeared to have relied heavily on the widely discredited “Project Snowman” report by disgruntled former Sars employee Michael Peega, also responsible together with triple agent Belinda Walter for the “rogue unit” allegations which nearly destroyed Sars and severely impacted its investigative abilities.

The report was completed around the same time Sars began hunting EFF leader Julius Malema for millions owed in taxes.

“What’s attributed to me in that report is not a true reflection of what happened,” Ravele said.

“In fact, it is an intentional distortion of facts which was aimed at achieving a particular political objective.”

Van Loggerenberg maintained his innocence over the rogue unit at Sars narrative run by the Sunday Times and since withdrawn by the newspaper.

“The plots, crimes and details regarding Mr Peega have been well recorded in the media since 2009 to date, to the Presidency at the time, various law enforcement agencies, Parliamentary committees and the media,” Van Loggerenberg said.

“Sars released detailed refutations of the fake ‘dossier’ entitled ‘Project Snowman’ to the media, complete with annexures, in November 2009 and February 2010. These have been in the public domain for almost a decade now. They speak for themselves.

“The motives of Mr Peega and others were detailed in a document entitled ‘Project Broken Arrow’. There were four such reports in 2009. It was annexed to the public releases at the time. These also speak for themselves,” said Van Loggerenberg.

Ravele said people’s lives had been destroyed by the disinformation campaign.

“I haven’t fully recovered from the onslaught that was aimed at me by Sars. I and some of my former Sars colleagues still don’t have regular employment because of the onslaught,” Ravele said.

“When is this going to end? How many more lives still need to be destroyed?”

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