'Mpshe tried to cancel Selebi's arrest warrant'

Acting National Director of Public Prosecutions Mokotedi Mpshe

It's been a day of revelations in the Ginwala Inquiry. The inquiry heard that acting National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Mokotedi Mpshe tried to cancel the arrest warrants for National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi.

Mpshe, however, believed that the Scorpions would undermine him and still arrest Selebi. Government believed it was in the interests of State security to cancel the warrant.

Suspended NDPP head Vusi Pikoli obtained the warrants for Selebi's arrest, but he was shown the door soon thereafter. The warrant then became Mpshe's burden - one the Justice Ministry's Director General had to step in to assist him with.

But Pikoli's lawyer Wim Trengove says national security was not the real reason for the warrants to be quashed. “Government was determined to have the warrants withdrawn so that the NPA and DSO could not … go ahead with the arrest of Selebi...” says Trengove.

Secret letter
Trengove said Justice Minister Bridget Mabandla should face a fine or imprisonment for trying to stop Pikoli from arresting Selebi.

Pikoli's team was infuriated by President Thabo Mbeki’s secret letter, which they believe the Justice Minister tried to conceal from them. Today, commission head Frene Ginwala made the controversial letter public.

In it, Mbeki asked Mabandla to obtain information about Selebi's intended arrest and prosecution so he could make an informed decision about the case. A day after she got it, the Minister ordered Pikoli to halt the Selebi investigation.

The hearings have been adjourned till June 23. Selebi's criminal trial is expected to start three days later.