Crimes Against Humanity
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
Through my experience I have come to realize that there are many captives in Mauritius, people without a voice, hope or means to freedom as human rights are non existent. Being the only source of hope to some of these people I have vowed to tell the world what I have seen and heard. People make mistakes but there is always hope for redemption.
I will try and tell you our story as briefly as I can:
In August 2005 my son was detained in Mauritius for importation of drugs. We were notified by South Africa’s Department of Foreign Affairs and were told to give them any information that we had in this regard. After a month we had still not been contacted by the South African Organized Crime Drug Unit or Interpol so we started asking questions. I contacted Foreign Affairs to find out when we would be contacted about the investigation only to be told that they do not investigate and we must not investigate on our own as this could be very dangerous as we could be killed by the drug syndicate barons.
By going onto a Mauritian newspapers website and searching through their media reports we made the following discovery:
- There are 27 South Africans in their prison system. Most of them are still awaiting trial; some have been waiting for as long as 5 years. Most of them are women.
- None of them were stopped at the Airport in South Africa. ( Airport Authorities involvement)
- The same syndicate is mentioned by everyone detained there.
- The Mauritian Police ADSU (Anti Drug Smuggling Unit) awaits their arrival at the airport in Mauritius. The South African Organized Crime Drug Unit notifies ADSU beforehand of their arrival. (South African Organized Crime Drug Squad involvement.)
- These South African citizens are not drug mules; they are what we call the decoys! Decoys are people who are recruited under false pretences, unbeknown to themselves, for the sole purpose of being arrested so that the drug mules can walk through freely with large amounts of drugs. Ninety-nine percent are first time offenders!
Once they are arrested they are written off by the South African Government, because if you ask questions about the South Africans detained in Mauritius all the doors slam shut. We decided to go to the Organized Crime Unit in George and asked if they could investigate this matter on behalf of our son. We later in 2006 acquired the services of a private investigator to assist in the investigation.
In October 2005 I flew to Mauritius to see my son. I decided to pay ADSU a visit and asked them if Interpol was investigating. They told me that Interpol is not notified and does not investigate these matters. Deputy Superintendent Padiachy however informed me that the information was given to his friend an Officer at the Organized Crime Drug Unit in Pretoria, Superintendent Jan Rehder. Deputy Superintendent Padiachy also told me that all the South Africans are connected to the same syndicate and that the police will never catch them because this has been going on for 7 years. I then told him that he must never, say never. I also told him that if they were caught we would know who is involved on both sides.
Friday 25th November 2005 I contacted Superintendent Jan Rehder. I introduced myself and told him my son was detained in Mauritius to which he replied – Oh! There are many such cases. I told him that I was given his mobile number by Deputy Superintendent Padiachy in Mauritius. The phone went quiet on his side and I thought he had hung up. He then said that he could not talk to me as he was not in the office. I asked if he would be in the office on the Monday and if I could call him then. He said that I could.
Monday 28th November 2005 I called him around 10 o’ clock. When he answered his mobile and heard it was me he shouted, what do you want from me? I told him I was phoning to get information regarding my son’s case and was told “it has nothing to do with me”. When I asked him who does he work for, Interpol? He replied I don’t have to tell you and I won’t tell you.
In early December 2005 after placing an article in a local newspaper in South Africa I was asked to contact Interpol as they do not have a single file of any South Africans detained in Mauritius. Senior Supt Tummi Golding contacted me and stated that they had contacted the Mauritian Authorities twice to request the files of the South Africans and had received no response. She asked me to contact the families that I had contact with, to come make statements concerning the detainees. They were to meet us in Cape Town to take our statements. After I had faxed a letter of confirmation as to when I would be in Cape Town to meet with Interpol, I received a call telling me that they did not want a statement from me or any of the other family members as they do not investigate any of the cases. Officers that I spoke to at Interpol are Taylor, Rodgers, Mendes and Tummi Golding and each confirmed the above.
When I asked the question in Mauritius about who investigates the South African cases in South Africa. The High Commissioner Mr. Bramdeo and a barrister confirmed that Interpol was not investigating and that their Authorities report these cases to the Organized Crime Drug Squad in Pretoria.
I met with the Commissioner of Prisons Mr. Bill Duff and the Deputy Commissioner of Police Mr. Jean Bruneau who both told me to approach Mr. Mbeki and the South African Government to sign the Prisoner Transfer Agreement. As Mauritius and South Africa are part of the SADC a Prisoner Transfer Agreement can be signed. Mauritius has signed the treaty with Tanzania, Kenya, India, and Uganda.
Tuesday 13 December 2005 I was contacted by the Chief Director of Consular Services Mr. Dayanand Naidoo from the Department of Foreign Affairs, regarding the entrapment of my son. He told me I have no rights and then he proceeded to tell me if I made any complaints about the South African detainees receiving their money late he would stop my son from receiving his money. [We deposit money monthly into Foreign Affairs account to be given to the detainees to buy essentials e.g. soap, toilet paper etc.]
Tuesday 20th December 2005 we faxed a confidential letter to the Cape Town office of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Sue van der Merwe. In the letter we were requesting an investigation as to why our citizens were not stopped at the airport in South Africa, before boarding the plane to Mauritius? Why the Mauritian authorities were notified to await their arrival and that the alleged crimes all originated on South African soil, the drugs are taken direct from South Africa to Mauritius. Up until this time not a single case had been investigated in South Africa. We received an email the following morning from Mr Albie Laubscher of Foreign Affairs in Pretoria saying that they had intercepted the letter and that he was in possession of it. I phoned the office in Cape Town and asked Mr. Gogi under whose authority he was acting to remove the letter that was confidentially addressed to the Deputy Minister, who was in Cape Town at the time. He told me he was instructed from Pretoria by Mr Johnny Molotto to intercept the letter.
At the end of February 2006 the Minister of Education in the Western Cape was able to give the letter to her.
At the end of March I returned to Mauritius to visit my son. On the 3rd April 2006 I had a meeting with the High Commissioner Mr. Bramdeo at the South African Embassy. I told him that it was a human rights violation that the South Africans were being detained for years before their cases went to trial. He became extremely angry with me and said that all the cases would be lodged by July 2006. He shouted at me that he detests it when someone insinuates that they sit on their backsides, he furthermore shouted, quote “who sent you and that I must go back to from where I came” unquote. On the 29 November 2005 a South African citizen Karel Burger committed suicide in prison. The Mauritian authorities said he died of natural causes. His body was only cremated the second week in April 2006 after I let the Embassy know that we were aware that his body was still lying in the mortuary in Mauritius for more than 4 months! His family did not have the finance.
Tuesday 11th April 2006 I had a meeting with the ADSU Deputy Supt Padiachy and he informed me that the investigation of my son’s case on the South African side was completed and that they just could not catch anyone….my son’s case was never investigated! After remaining silent he said “I did give you his name and mobile number? Superindent Jan Rehder says that you have never contacted him.” (Blatant lies, I did contact him and no cases were and never will be investigated in SA.)
Wednesday 10th May 2006 I phoned Supt Jan Rehder who denied having any case files of the South Africans. He also told me that it was Interpol who was given the case files. He then informed me that because of the letter that we had sent to the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs there was now to be an investigation. He said Deputy Minister Ms Sue van der Merwe had given instructions to the National Commissioner of Police Jackie Selebi, who was also the President of Interpol International at the time. (Selebi has since been charged and found guilty of corruption and defeating the ends of justice, he accepted bribes from Glen Agliotti who is a druglord, also known as the Godfather) Inspector Martin van der Merwe at Organized Crime in George and Ludwig Odendaal from Bloemfontein who we asked in October 2005 to investigate after we realized that there had never been any investigation done on the South African side. (Unfortunately no investigations could be done due to the fact that they had no statements from the SA detainees) They were told that they were to travel to Mauritius to investigate and they would take statements from all the South Africans.
Wednesday 10th May 2006 I phoned Deputy Supt Padiachy in Mauritius and he had also changed his story that the case files were given to Interpol.
11th July 2006 I went to Mauritius and Inspector van der Merwe was waiting to hear when they would be traveling. On the 23rd July 2006 another South African was caught in Mauritius and I phoned Supt Rheder from Mauritius and asked him what they were doing to stop this as it was again the same syndicate and Cape Town International Airport. He told me never to phone him again!
Tuesday 25th July 2006 Senior Superintendent Devan Naicker who was also the National Head of Narcotics, Superintendent Jan Rehder and Senior Superintendent Brian Oppalt (not clear on the spelling) from Organized Crime Drug Unit Pretoria arrived in Mauritius without Insp van der Merwe and Ludwig Odendaal.
Thursday 27th July 2006 my son [whom we were able to get out on bail in April 2006] and I went to the South African Embassy to meet with the 3 Officers. Supt Jan Rehder must have told me at least 5 times that we got off on the wrong footing and that he thought I was in the syndicate. They said the main purpose of their visit is because quote “I (mother) spelt it out WHAT IS THE SA GOVERNMENT DOING ABOUT THIS SITUATION! They said the reason for them being there was because they do not want other people to end up in the same situation, and to prevent other mothers having to go through a similar situation. They said that they had no hidden agenda and they wanted to establish an investigation process on the people who sent you; we want to arrest the people back home who sent you. The Mauritius issue was never a priority, it was only after I requested an investigation, which was at the end of 2005” unquote. Please note our citizens were arrested from as early as the year 2000. When they were asked why after 7 years they now want to investigate! They said somewhere between the lines the files were lost, or it was filed somewhere or people were not qualified. They were in Mauritius from the morning of 25th July 2006 till 29th July 2006 and stayed in a 5 star hotel at a resort. They only spoke to 6 detainees and did not take a single statement. If these corrupt Officers took statements there would have been a mandate to investigate and then they would have been exposed.
1st August 2006 I phoned Commissioner Johan de Beer - Organized Crime Pretoria, to arrange an appointment with him to discuss the fact that officers Rehder, Naicker, and Oppalt had NOT on their recent visit to Mauritius returned with a single statement from the South African citizens. I told his personal assistant it concerns the South Africans detained in Mauritius. Within 10 min I got a call from Director van Wyk, he said he was told to call me and arrange an appointment. After our meeting he said he would get back to me but this was passed to Director Ntshinga who said that Senior Supt Devan Naicker would give me a report.
Wednesday 20th September 2006 I had a meeting with Asst Commissoner Lebeya at Wachthuis. Paul van Rensburg [Private Investigator] and Senior Supt Devan Naicker were also present at this meeting. In the meeting they tried to discredit the investigator and I was then told I had no rights to discuss the other South African detainees with them. He also said he would meet with me the following week to collect information as he would be coming to George. I never received a report from Devan Naicker because he told me he owes me nothing and so I can forget about it! Senior Supt Devan Naicker stated that soon after their return from Mauritius they arrested the people who had been responsible for sending our citizen to Mauritius in the first place. Firstly, this is a lie because without statements there is no mandate to investigate and secondly the people who recruited my son are all still free, they were never even questioned by police. They are on facebook. All the other family members who have loved ones in Mauritian prisons can confirm the same.
Thursday 28th September 2006 I met with Minister Ramatlekane [Safety and Security Minister of the Western Cape]. He said he would get back to me. He never did.
Monday 16th October 2006 I had a meeting with Commissioner Mfazi at Police Headquaters in Cape Town. In all my correspondence to various ministers I had never contacted him and I found it strange that he knew about me. I again took our private investigator with to the meeting and again they tried to discredit the investigator. On his desk I saw a copy of the letter I had send to Jackie Selebi and Charles Nqakula. Commissioner Mfazi was not interested in anything that I had told him regarding the officers who had traveled to Mauritius. He wanted to know what information I had, but because of what Senior Supt Devan Naicker had said during our meeting with Asst Commissioner Lebeya that he had arrested the people involved. I played along and when I told him that I don’t really have information, he became angry and said “I do not know what you want from me and I do not know why you came to me.” He then accused the investigator of recording the conversation we had with him.
Many of these detainees have not seen any family members as a trip to Mauritius is too expensive.
The South Africans detained in Mauritius were DECOYS as the amount of drugs that they were caught with are small in comparison with the amount a mule carries and in the words of Captain Johan Smit “its common knowledge that they are often used as decoys. We are given a tip-off and while we’re concentrating on the one sacrificial lamb, another walks through with a large amount of illicit drugs “
When the South Africans appear in court for sentencing the Mauritian Police inform the court that their cases were investigated in South Africa and that they were not able to arrest anyone. (Case was heard 13 September 2006)
I was told by someone that:
Jackie Selebi gave Senior Supt Devan Naicker orders to discredit the private investigator.
Supt Jan Rehder will sink my son and that he sinks all the South Africans.
Supt Rehder and Senior Supt Naicker say I ask too many questions.
Commissioner Johan de Beer nearly had a heart attack when I called to ask for a meeting with him.
Supt. Rehder and Supt. Naiker when in Mauritius met with all the detainees. I was then asked “Have you thought to give the information that you have to the 2 officers. I replied “why should I as you have just confirmed that they had met with every single detainee in Mauritius.”
Supt Rehder said to me “You just never stop; you must be careful as these people are dangerous and are capable of anything.” [Quote “Jy is knaend jy hou net nooit op nie, jy moet versigtig wees want hierdie mense is gevaarlik en hulle is tot enigiets in staat.”]
I have been told by the staff of Foreign Affairs and a member of the staff at the South African Embassy in Mauritius that I must be careful as these syndicates are dangerous and are capable of anything which I take is a threat.
Below is a list of Ministers and Deputies whom I have approached:
President Thabo Mbeki
Deputy President Ms Phumzile Mlamba-Ngcuka
Ms Sue van der Merwe – Deputy Minister Foreign Affairs
Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma – Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mr. Nelson Mandela –Former President of RSA
Mr. Hilton Dennis – South African Secret service
Mr. Charles Nqakula – Minister of Police
Ms Briggitte Mabandla – Minister of Justice
Mr Ngconde Balfour – Minister of Correctional Services
Ms Loretta Jacobus
Commissioner Mr. Jackie Selebi (President of Interpol International)
Adv Johnny de Lange – Deputy Minister of Justice
Mr. Aziz Pahad
Mr. Ronnie Kasrils – Minister of Intelligence.
Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa Nqakula and many others.
We have given through information to the Scorpions and NPA [Western Cape] and they can also be contacted for information. We have recordings and proof of what we have stated in this document
After 2 years of approaching every government department and receiving no response, I decided to seek legal advice in March 2007 because the government of Mauritius was more that willing to sign a Prisoner Transfer Agreement to allow our citizens to be able to complete the remainder of their sentences close to their families here in South Africa
On 10th June 2007 on a television program called Carte Blanche, Devan Naicker admitted that they did not take statements from any of the South Africa citizens held in Mauritian prisons.
On the 13th June 2007 I met with Mr Dayanand Naidoo, the Chief Director of Consular Services. When I wanted to discuss the issue that no statements were taken, which means without statements there is no mandate to investigate, Mr. Naidoo told me he was not interested in discussing it.
Between January and February 2009 on two different SAA flights, the crews were detained at Heathrow Int. Airport after drugs were found. The suspects returned to South Africa and were arrested on home soil. This is double standards because the Department of International Relations and Cooperation says the suspects must serve their sentence in the country where the crime was committed. The alleged crimes were all committed on South African soil. The exact same applies with all our South Africans that are incarcerated in Mauritius.
In May 2009 I handed all my documents as well as the recordings to the Office of the Public Protector. They in turn handed it to the Independent Complaints Directorate to investigate.
On the 23rd July 2009 I forwarded Mr. Anwar Dramat, head of the HAWKS information concerning irregularities in the South African Police Force. To this day he has not responded at all!
At the end of August 2009 we filed an application against the Government of South Africa for its failure properly to consider my request that the Government enter into a Prisoner Exchange Agreement with the Government of Mauritius, alternatively to provide sufficient reasons for its decision not to do so.
In February 2010 I received a call from Colonel Isak Ludick, who is the investigating officer on the Sheryl Cwele/Frank case. (She is the Minister of Intelligences’ wife and she recruited a young woman, who is now serving a sentence for a drug related charge)
He told me he is the person who calls the foreign airports and tells them that he has information that a certain South African citizen is in possession of drugs and then they are arrested! I told him that he was defeating the ends of justice and why was he not arresting them before they even left South African soil or when they returned instead of notifying the foreign airport so they get arrested in a foreign country, if he had this information about who the decoys were? In literal terms this means that he is connected to one of the drug cartels that operate in South Africa otherwise how would he come on this information. He cut our conversation short and told me he would ask his secretary to give me his fax number and if I had any information, I must send a fax. I am still waiting for the secretary to contact me.
In March 2010 I received a call from an investigating officer from the ICD who asked that I assist them with more information.
On the 29 and 30 March 2010 our case was heard but Judge Ranchod took almost 9 months to pass judgment. The case was dismissed.
On the 2 November 2010 I participated in a live television broadcast Robinson Regstreeks. Both the police and Interpol were invited but declined. An official Mr Albie Laubscher agreed to participate on behalf of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation’s acknowledged;
1) that the department was aware of the police visit to Mauritius. (But the department was not aware of the purpose for their visit)
2) that there is definitely truth in that the South African citizens are the 'DECOYS'.
3) That the department is aware that the conditions in Mauritian prisons do not comply with the UN Convention.
4) That the department is aware that it is a violation of International Protocol for a South African citizen to communicate directly with the Mauritian authorities that is why there is an Embassy and a High Commission.
With reference to the above I would like to highlight the following:
On the 10 May 2006, I was told by Superintendent Jan Rheder, during a telephone conversation, that because of a letter I had written on 20 December 2005 to Deputy Minister Sue van der Merwe, she had requested an investigation by the then National Commissioner of police, Jackie Selebi. So the Department was fully aware that they were there to investigate.
The letter dated 20 December 2005 was faxed to her Cape Town office, but we received an e-mail from your office in Pretoria stating that you were in possession of the letter, which was marked confidential and addressed to the Deputy Minister Sue van der Merwe.
In July 2006 my son and I met with these Officers in the South African Embassy in Mauritius and officials from the mission were present during the interview. Surely the then High Commissioner Mr Bramdeo must have conveyed this information to Pretoria?
In June 2007 during a meeting with Mr. Dayanand Naidoo, Mr. Steve Kruis and Mr.Albie Laubscher, it was made very clear to me that Mr Naidoo and Mr.Laubscher were not interested in discussing the matter of the officers who took no statements; therefore there was no mandate to investigate these drug activities.
Furthermore the National Head of Narcotics, Devan Naicker stated during a live radio interview on the 28 May 2009 that DIRCO assists them in their investigations.
On the 18 October 2010 an article appeared in the Mauritian media whereby an ADSU officer admits that the South African citizens who were arrested in Mauritius were not mules but 'DECOYS'
To date no Minister, Deputy Minister, Directors or officials from the Department of International Relations and Cooperation has made any effort in the past 5 years to assist or meet with me concerning this matter. I have always believed this to be a matter of National Interest and I know the whole truth will be revealed.
On the 29 and 30 March 2010 our case was heard but Judge Ranchod took almost 9 months to pass judgment. The case was dismissed.
We filed an application for leave to appeal the judgment in the Constitutional Court at the end of December 2010.
On the 11 February 2011, without even going to court the Constitutional Court judges dismissed my application for leave to appeal because there is no prospect for success.
The UN Office on Drugs and Crime stated in their 2010 World Report that South Africa is named as the largest international player in the import and export of drugs.
After more than 5 years I have come to the conclusion that the Government of South Africa and their authorities have blood on their hands, because by not investigating and stopping the flow of drugs to Mauritius they are almost totally to blame for those people addicted to heroin in Mauritius.
All this because of the greed for money!
During my study about the drug situation in this country I also came across a book which goes into much detail of how the drug cartels are operated in this country and also the players involved.
The title of the book is Understanding Organized Crime and Corruption in South Africa by Don Sipho and can be purchased for +- R 250. Well worth the read!
People can also log onto www.lockedup.co.za if interested in reading true life stories.
Written by Patricia Gerber mother of a detainee in Mauritius