Colonel Bester says Selebi ordered TRC files sealed — Daily Maverick
In South Africa, retired police colonel Louis Bester told the Khampepe Commission investigating delays in criminal prosecutions that he sealed 10 boxes of Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) materials on the orders of then national police commissioner Jackie Selebi. As Daily Maverick reports, Bester kept the master TRC file, which South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority handed over to police in 2004.
Controversial memorandum
During cross-examination, Bester said that his role was limited to keeping official documents and arranging an independent forensic examination of the disputed memorandum. The document was prepared in 2003 by Anton Akkermann, who headed the prosecution unit dealing with priority crimes.
The commission heard testimony that the memorandum, which tracked the status of TRC cases, was allegedly altered to show a 2006 date. According to the version considered by the commission, this was intended to support claims that the prosecution unit was preparing arrests of the so-called ANC 37, among whom was then president Thabo Mbeki. Akkermann previously said the alleged falsification was not a technical error but a “calculated attempt to portray him as a prosecutor who acted on his own authority.”
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Storage and verification of documents
Bester said that on August 27, 2007, he was summoned to Selebi’s office, where the memorandum was discussed. The document, marked “Letter 4,” was one of 73 original signed memorandums containing decisions and recommendations, which were kept in a safe in his office.
He also rejected claims by Akkermann’s deputy, Chris Macadam, that he had a personal interest in prosecuting senior African National Congress officials. According to Bester, he was not tasked with investigating cases involving the ANC 37, and the relevant materials remained sealed in storage pending further instructions from the prosecution service.
In August 2007, Bester engaged Forensic Document Consultants to determine whether the memorandum had been tampered with. The Khampepe Commission later requested from him the investigation materials, documents on funding for the examination, an inventory list of the 10 boxes, translations of the affidavit of police officer Suiker Brits, and the full police investigation diary. Bester handed these documents over to the commission.
