Nathi Mthethwa: Minister in hot water for allegedly looting State Security account

Arts and Culture Minister, Nathi Mthethwa, has been dug a deeper grave after he was, yet again, implicated in State Capture by a Crime Intelligence whistleblower.

State Capture Inquiry: What’s the latest?

Colonel Dhanajaya Naidoo, a covert Crime Intelligence whistleblower who has been testifying at the Zondo Commission via an audio link (to protect his identity) has made startling allegations against high-ranking government officials.

He is expected to continue with his testimony on Wednesday, after the third round of questioning that saw him uncover the gory details of just how much of the State Security Agency’s funds were looted by the higher-ups.

How Nathi Mthethwa was implicated in looting

The latter parts of his testimony added to what we have heard about Nathi Mthethwa’s tenure as the Minister of Police from another Crime Intelligence operative, Kobus Roelofse.

Last week, Roelofse, who is an ally of Naidoo, testified that the SSA account had, at one time, allegedly been used to fund upgrades for the home of Nathi Mthethwa, in 2010 when he was still the country’s Top Cop.

During his second day of testimony, Roelofse revealed that instructions to channel upgrades totalling R195 000, to Mthethwa’s home, in KwaMbonambi, allegedly came from the embattled ex-intelligence head, Richard Mdluli.

Roelofse did admit, however, that nowhere in his investigation had he found any proof that Nathi Mthethwa knew that the money was channelled from the SSA account.

Similarly, with regards to Naidoo’s testimony, Mthethwa was included as a beneficiary of a luxury Mercedes Benz ML350 that was allegedly purchased for the then-Police Minister, under the instruction of Mdluli.

“This was a Mercedes Benz ML350. This vehicle was purchased at Mercedes Benz, on Mhlanga Rocks, Chair (referring to DCJ Raymond Zondo). This particular vehicle was R373 850. Chair, I have personal knowledge of this vehicle. This vehicle was specifically purchased for use by the then-Minister of Police, Mr Nathi Mthethwa.

“Chair, it was myself and Colonel FM11 (code name for an exposed operative only known to the inquiry) who delivered this vehicle to Mr Mthethwa’s residence in Pretoria,” Naidoo testified.

He further revealed that the vehicle was registered in the name of FM11 and purchased using funds from the SSA account. Naidoo would also indicate that Mthethwa returned the vehicle, refusing to drive in it, after only having it for a short period.

“Chair, the minister utilised this vehicle for a few months. I remember this because General Mdluli — when I met him at his office on one occasion — he instructed me to pick up the vehicle from the minister’s house as the minister informed him that he no longer wanted to make use of this vehicle, as journalists were following him,” he explained.

Naidoo, much like Roelofse, admitted that he is not certain if Mthethwa was at all aware of where the funds for the purchase of this luxury car came from.

At the time of publishing this article, Mthethwa had not issued a response to the allegations.