Top official allegedly helped import Grabber

A top public servant allegedly used government documents to provide false authority to acquire the R28 million interception machine popularly known as the Grabber. Joseph Pooe, an assistant director in the Department of Public Service and Administration’s (DPSA) labour relations and remuneration management branch and a former lieutenant in the SANDF, is at the centre of a top-level Hawks investigation. The Grabber, which is manufactured in Israel, can be used to intercept confidential national security information and sell it to or exchange it with political enemies. The Star’s investigation shows that Pooe allegedly fraudulently used the department’s letterheads to provide false authority required for the importation of the Grabber. The machine’s procurement is highly regulated and can be secured only with the permission of the Presidency or a duly delegated authority.

Sources close to the investigation said Pooe was paid hundreds of thousands of rand for his role and was also rewarded with a luxury BMW X5 vehicle. The BMW was originally bought to install the Grabber but was replaced with a bigger Mercedes-Benz Vito, which was confiscated by police during the arrest. On Monday, Pooe confirmed he had used the department’s stationery. “The letter was written by me and I used the DPSA letterhead,” he said. He would, however, not be drawn into explaining why he had to write a letter authorising the purchase of the spy device, saying “It’s confidential.” Asked why he needed it, he said: “I was the investigating officer. Who am I to convince Israel to sell me a spy machine?” He refused to provide any further details, saying it was a covert operation. “There was a purpose for that machine. The machine was for the South African government to fight crime at the highest level.”

Pooe said there were many other spy devices operating in the country and that it was up to the police to find them. “The machines of the Hawks are compromised because there are other spy devices that are operating illegally in the country.” He also confirmed that he received a BMW, saying “it was part of the package”. Hawks spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said the investigations were continuing. He added that the Hawks had been instructed to search for all the spy devices in the country. Pooe is also the subject of an internal probe, led by the department’s director-general Mashwahle Diphofa. “I refer to your request dated September 1, 2015 wherein you are requesting my department’s assistance regarding your investigation into alleged contraventions of certain provisions of the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-Related Information Act,2002 (Act 70 of 2002), also known as the Rica Act, by Mr Pooe, who is an employee of the department,” Diphofa responded to a letter from Hawks investigating officer Lieutenant-Colonel Joe Ngaka Makua.

According to documents which The Star has seen, Pooe appears to have transgressed several public service regulations. Investigators are considering bringing several criminal charges against him, including one of fraud because Pooe used DPSA letterheads and signed letters which gave a false impression that he had the authority to provide permission for the importation of the Grabber from Israel. “On July 30, 2015, the suspects, Willem Lotter and Johannes Willemse, were arrested and a number of documents, including contracts of agreements to provide indemnity to civilians signed by Mr Joseph Lebone Pooe from the Department of Public Service and Administration, were seized,” Makua wrote. Among the documents seized, he added, were memorandums and partnership agreements entered into between the DPSA and Pooe. “There is also an end-user certificate signed by Pooe on behalf of the DPSA to buy the Grabber machine from Israel to RSA,” he added.

Diphofa distanced the DPSA from the scandal, saying Pooe did not have the authority to procure or conclude legal contracts on behalf of the department nor the power to provide any indemnity to civilians and third parties. He added that Pooe also did not have the authority to issue end-user certificates for the purchasing of any prohibited equipment on behalf of the DPSA. The Star understands that Pooe’s name would be added to the charge sheet of Lotter and Willemse, who were arrested in a dramatic sting operation in Pretoria in July.