Mbeki may take stand in case against Lincoln

CAPE TOWN -- President Thabo Mbeki may be called to testify in the case against former Presidential Investigative Task Unit (Pitu) head André Lincoln, who was appointed to investigate high-ranking police involvement in organised crime by former president Nelson Mandela.

If Mbeki is called to testify, it will be the second time in South African history that a president takes the stand.

Lincoln faces 46 charges of fraud relating to abuse of his position as head of Pitu, which reported directly to then deputy-president Mbeki, former minister of safety and security Sydney Mufamadi and former national police commissioner George Fivaz.

The charges arise from an unauthorised car rental allowance which cost the state about R14500 a month, claims for a daily allowance of R111, the private use of a safe house and freeing a convicted prisoner from Pollsmoor Prison.

Other charges include claims for operational costs which the state alleges were misappropriated.

In his testimony on Tuesday Fivaz told the court that Lincoln on numerous occasions ignored the chain of command, often going directly to Mbeki or Mufamadi.

On one occasion Lincoln claimed to him that he had been instructed by Mbeki not to report to Fivaz.

"I told him to leave my office. He tried to explain but I told him I did not want to talk with him further and that he should go."

Later at a meeting between Fivaz and Mufamadi, the minister denied Lincoln had ever received such an instruction and insisted on the proper chain of command, Fivaz said.

He also told the court of being summoned to Mbeki's home following complaints by Lincoln that high-ranking police members and senior management had tried to sabotage the unit's work.

The commissioner assured Mbeki that the allegations were unfounded.

Fivaz met Mbeki for a second time when Lincoln directed an "untrue and highly arrogant" letter to Fivaz in which he referred to allegations in the media and in police circles regarding the intimate workings of Pitu, and likening the unit to the apartheid unit at Vlakplaas.

In his letter Lincoln stated that Pitu had "in no way caused any embarrassment to the president and the deputy president, but that elements within the SAPS acting under your instructions have caused embarrassment".

Alleged insubordination on the part of Lincoln then followed, with recriminations abounding.

The trial continues, with Mufamadi expected to take the stand today. -- Sapa