Gauteng Hawks head, Prince Mokotedi 'redeployed' to head office

Prince Mokotedi, former head of the NPA's “integrity unit”, once tweeted that he was “100% Jacob Zuma”, and can claim the dubious honour of having acted as the original link between former Crime Intelligence Head, Richard Mdluli, and Advocate Nomgcobo Jiba, former Deputy Prosecutions boss.

That was, of course, during the early spring of State Capture and weakening of key state institutions including the DPCI and the NPA. Mokotedi's footprint reaches all the way back to former police commissioner Jackie Selebi's prosecution on charges of corruption. Back then, Jiba, working with Mdluli and Mokotedi, had Selebi prosecutor Gerrie Nel arrested on trumped-up charges.

Daily Maverick has asked Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi for confirmation of Mokotedi's redeployment. We also asked the reason for his transfer and who might replace him but had not yet received a reply at the time of writing.

However, Mokotedi sent this email out to colleagues “Dear Commanders, Please know that I have accepted transfer to SAPS HQ with effect from 1 Jan 2019. I really cherished the time that I spent with you. You are a great team, stay blessed! Enjoy your festive season!”

In 2016, Mokotedi replaced General Shadrack Sibiya as Gauteng Hawks head, after Sibiya was moved. Using the “Zimbabwe Rendition” matter, Sibiya as well as Hawks Head, Anwa Dramat, were ousted by Zuma loyalists.

Mokotedi featured more recently in investigative journalist, Mandy Weiner's chronicle of criminal life in South Africa, Ministry of Crime – An Underworld Explored. Here Mokotedi claimed that controversial nightclub underworld figure, Nafiz Modack, was, in fact, a police informer and that he had assisted the Hawks to investigate the night-time economy underworld.

One of the cases that Modack “helped” with was to locate a stolen SAPS “grabber” a powerful interception device. Grabbers have been used in the bitter factional war in the ANC and are meant to be tightly controlled SAPS assets.

Earlier, in 2014, Mokotedi resigned as head of the NPA's integrity Unit after being charged with “gross insubordination and bringing the NPA into disrepute”.

The charges were dropped after Mokotedi's resignation. The former Gauteng Hawks head is also the chief suspect in the leaking to the media of a report into former prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach.

Forensic Investigator Paul O' Sullivan has a long and turbulent history with Mokotedi, once labelling him “a criminal with a badge” Mokotedi accused O'Sullivan, IPID head Robert McBride and Sibiya of treason.

It is unknown what Mokotedi's redeployment will mean for his chequered career in law enforcement. DM