The Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) states it waits its case versus 2 previous State Security Agency (SSA) authorities implicated of fraudulently withdrawing R12-million to money Project Mayibuye, as their legal representatives prepare to ask the court to release them without providing a defence.
On Thursday, 29 October 2026, a day after the State closed its case versus Patrick Mshothola and Thulani “Silence” Dlomo, the defence suggested that it would bring an application in regards to Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act, arguing that the prosecution had actually stopped working to present enough proof.
Idac representative Henry Mamothame informed Daily Maverick that the directorate stayed positive that the charges might be sustained.
“Upon cautious evaluation of offered proof, we take the view that the charges chosen versus the implicated were sustainable throughout trial. This matter existed at the case evaluation panel and we got verification that it was properly authorised and the charges fall within the Idac required,” Mamothame stated.
His comments come as Idac reviews more than 40 cases as part of its ongoing “reset”. The process has already affected several high-profile prosecutions, including cases involving National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola, former Crime Intelligence boss Dumisani Khumalo and the long-running R191-million “blue lights” case against former acting police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane.
Mshothola and Dlomo face charges relating to the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of R12-million in three tranches in 2015 to fund Project Mayibuye. The project was one of several covert operations that came under scrutiny during investigations into the politicisation of the SSA during former president Jacob Zuma’s administration.
The trial, sitting at the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria, has heard evidence linking Mayibuye to efforts to gather intelligence on the EFF and infiltrate the party at a time when it was emerging as a significant political opponent of the ANC and Zuma.
EFF wants the Mayibuye records
On Thursday, the EFF approached the high court seeking access to court records and transcripts relating to the operation to infiltrate the party and its parliamentary caucus.
The request was granted following discussions with the presiding judge, Mashudu Munzhelele, and the legal teams, with the judge requesting that the agreement be put in writing.
“We are seeking access to transcripts of open-court proceedings, exhibits and other relevant court documents to establish the full record of evidence concerning the operation, including testimony that the SSA used a contract involving Korolo Investment Holdings to fund the operation against the EFF,” the party said.
This follows several days of evidence about Project Mayibuye and what the operation allegedly intended to achieve.
On Wednesday, Mr D, a former SSA official whose identity is protected by a court order, testified that there was nothing to suggest the EFF posed a threat to national security at the time it was targeted.
“Is there anything that indicates that the EFF was a threat to national security?” asked advocate Terry Motau, who is assisting Idac’s prosecution.
“No,” Mr D replied.
One of Project Veza’s preliminary findings, according to Mr D, was that Project Mayibuye had not been properly authorised. Project Veza was an SSA investigation that looked into Project Mayibuye and other Special Operations projects, and uncovered alleged wrongdoing and irregularities within the agency.
His testimony came days after the court heard more details about how the operation allegedly targeted the EFF when the party was barely two years old, but had already emerged as a significant political opponent of the ANC and Zuma.
On Monday, another former SSA official, identified as Mr B, testified about an operation that allegedly involved infiltrating the EFF and gathering intelligence from inside the party.
News24 reported that Mr B said the operation ran from shortly before the chaotic State of the Nation Address in February 2015 until January 2016, when the flow of money dried up.
A wider Zuma-era intelligence operation
The allegations surrounding Operation Mayibuye are not new. Years before the current trial, the State Capture commission and the high-level review panel into the SSA heard extensive evidence about the use of intelligence structures and public money for activities that had little or nothing to do with legitimate national security concerns.
Daily Maverick previously reported that evidence before the State Capture commission showed that Mayibuye was one of several projects run through the SSA’s Special Operations structures.
The commission heard evidence about operations targeting not only political formations but also the judiciary, civil society, Fees must Fall movement and other perceived threats to Zuma.
His comments come as Idac reviews more than 40 cases as part of its ongoing “reset”. The process has already affected several high-profile prosecutions, including cases involving National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola, former Crime Intelligence boss Dumisani Khumalo and the long-running R191-million “blue lights” case against former acting police commissioner Khomotso Phahlane.
Mshothola and Dlomo face charges relating to the alleged fraudulent withdrawal of R12-million in three tranches in 2015 to fund Project Mayibuye. The project was one of several covert operations that came under scrutiny during investigations into the politicisation of the SSA during former president Jacob Zuma’s administration.
The trial, sitting at the Gauteng Division of the High Court in Pretoria, has heard evidence linking Mayibuye to efforts to gather intelligence on the EFF and infiltrate the party at a time when it was emerging as a significant political opponent of the ANC and Zuma.
EFF wants the Mayibuye records
On Thursday, the EFF approached the high court seeking access to court records and transcripts relating to the operation to infiltrate the party and its parliamentary caucus.
The request was granted following discussions with the presiding judge, Mashudu Munzhelele, and the legal teams, with the judge requesting that the agreement be put in writing.
“We are seeking access to transcripts of open-court proceedings, exhibits and other relevant court documents to establish the full record of evidence concerning the operation, including testimony that the SSA used a contract involving Korolo Investment Holdings to fund the operation against the EFF,” the party said.
This follows several days of evidence about Project Mayibuye and what the operation allegedly intended to achieve.
On Wednesday, Mr D, a former SSA official whose identity is protected by a court order, testified that there was nothing to suggest the EFF posed a threat to national security at the time it was targeted.
“Is there anything that indicates that the EFF was a threat to national security?” asked advocate Terry Motau, who is assisting Idac’s prosecution.
“No,” Mr D replied.
One of Project Veza’s preliminary findings, according to Mr D, was that Project Mayibuye had not been properly authorised. Project Veza was an SSA investigation that looked into Project Mayibuye and other Special Operations projects, and uncovered alleged wrongdoing and irregularities within the agency.
/%20file/dailymaverick/wp-content/%20uploads/2021/05/%20Branko-SSAreflect2.%20jpg "trending topics Branko-SSAreflect2")
His testimony came days after the court heard more details about how the operation allegedly targeted the EFF when the party was barely two years old, but had already emerged as a significant political opponent of the ANC and Zuma.
On Monday, another former SSA official, identified as Mr B, testified about an operation that allegedly involved infiltrating the EFF and gathering intelligence from inside the party.
News24 reported that Mr B said the operation ran from shortly before the chaotic State of the Nation Address in February 2015 until January 2016, when the flow of money dried up.
A wider Zuma-era intelligence operation
The allegations surrounding Operation Mayibuye are not new. Years before the current trial, the State Capture commission and the high-level review panel into the SSA heard extensive evidence about the use of intelligence structures and public money for activities that had little or nothing to do with legitimate national security concerns.
Daily Maverick previously reported that evidence before the State Capture commission showed that Mayibuye was one of several projects run through the SSA’s Special Operations structures.
The commission heard evidence about operations targeting not only political formations but also the judiciary, civil society, Fees must Fall movement and other perceived threats to Zuma.
/%20file/dailymaverick/wp-content/%20uploads/IMG%20_%206713-MAIN.%20jpg "trending topics IMG_6713-MAIN")
One operation under Project Mayibuye, referred to as Operation Justice, was apparently focused on hiring sources within the judiciary. Proof provided to the commission explained efforts to acquire informants who might be utilized to affect what was taking place within the justice system.
The commission likewise heard proof about big quantities of money being withdrawn through the SSA’s hidden structures.
One SSA authorities affirmed that she authorized R13.5-million in payments for Project Mayibuye in between April and August 2016 without understanding where the cash would eventually be invested.
The top-level evaluation panel into the SSA painted a similarly uncomfortable image.
It discovered severe politicisation and factionalisation within the intelligence services and stated the Special Operations system had actually efficiently ended up being “a law unto itself”, Daily Maverick reported.
The panel discovered that intelligence structures had actually been utilized for activities consisting of spying on the media, penetrating motions opposed to Zuma and keeping track of political activity.
Job Veza later on took a look at SSA operations in between 2012 and 2018 and discovered that different jobs started by Dlomo and the Special Operations Unit “were developed in breach of the SSA’s policy and regulative prescripts”.
The examination discovered supposed prohibited security and about R1.5-billion in public funds that might not be appropriately represented.
The State Capture commission consequently discovered proof of “gross non-compliance” with functional and monetary guidelines, especially in the facility of hidden tasks and special-purpose lorries utilized to funnel cash from the firm.
Case was effectively authorised, states Idac
It protests that more comprehensive history that Mshothola and Dlomo are now standing trial over the R12-million presumably withdrawn through Project Mayibuye.
The State declares that the cash was withdrawn through 3 short-lived cash loan connected to a supposed agreement with Kimberley-based Korolo Investment Holdings.
Daily Maverick formerly reported that the State declares the agreement and billings were deceitful, while the business’s director informed detectives that he had actually not signed the arrangement, had actually never ever fulfilled Dlomo which the business did not get the cash.
Daily Maverick asked Idac whether it was pleased that the proof provided throughout the trial was strong enough to sustain the charges, and whether the prosecution might turn into one of the cases examined as part of the directorate’s continuous “reset”.
Mamothame stated the case had actually currently gone through Idac’s evaluation procedure and had actually been properly authorised.
Judge concerns defence quote
The defence will now try to persuade the court otherwise.
Its Section 174 application will perhaps argue that after the State has actually called its witnesses and positioned its proof before the court, there is still insufficient proof on which an affordable court might found guilty Mshothola and Dlomo.
Supporter Muthwa Sithole, representing Dlomo, informed the court that the defence would endeavour to prepare and send its composed arguments by midnight. Judge Munzhelele was at first hesitant to have actually the arguments sent in composing.
“Why do you desire it to be in composing? You are not going to be handling contradictions and trustworthiness and all that since I’m not going to amuse them,” Munzhelele stated.
Sithole reacted that they would not. The discharge application will be heard on Friday, 30 October 2026. If the court grants the application, Mshothola and Dlomo will be released without needing to provide their defence.
If the application is dismissed, the trial will continue and the set will be needed to provide their case. DM
Discover more from PMN S.P.O.R.T.S - A PRIME MEDIA NETWORK BRAND
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
