‘Zille’s spook’ to face 39 charges

Paul Scheepers, dubbed “Helen Zille’s spook”, is to face 19 charges of fraud, 19 of corruption and one count of tender fraud relating to his company’s work for the provincial government. On Monday, the suspended cop made a brief appearance in the Bellville District Court following his arrest in May for fraud, perjury and violations of the Electronic Communications Act. National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) Western Cape spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila earlier indicated that Scheepers, a crime intelligence cop, would face 19 charges of fraud, 19 of corruption and a count of tender fraud relating to his company’s work for the provincial government. In 2010 Eagle Eye Solutions Technology, which does surveillance and tracing, was awarded a contract with the Western Cape government’s Department of the Premier to “debug” the cellphones of Zille and her cabinet colleagues. This came after they suspected the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) was spying on DA politicians. Apart from Zille’s cabinet, Scheepers also reportedly worked for the DA-run Stellenbosch Municipality and for other DA politicians.

ANC provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs lodged a criminal complaint against Zille on Saturday for the tender issued to Scheepers’s company. Jacobs argues that as head of the provincial government, Zille had violated the National Strategic Intelligence Act, which, according to the State Security Agency, prohibits private contractors like Scheepers from providing intelligence services to government departments. Scheepers was arrested on May 8 after raids on his office at the SAPS crime intelligence provincial premises in Bishop Lavis and the offices of Eagle Eye Solutions Technology in Southfield. He was released on R2 000 bail. Dressed in a pair of jeans, and a blue striped shirt in court, Scheepers was not asked to plead and instead the prosecution and his lawyer wrangled over a postponement and a return court date. Scheepers’s attorney, Steven Barker, laughed when he heard the NPA would file 19 charges, along with tender fraud, against his client.

“Since his arrest, no charges have been put to my client. The (police) investigation is still ongoing,” said Barker. He said Scheepers’s criminal prosecution would hinge on his high court application to have items seized in the raid returned to him. In court papers, Scheepers argued that the search warrant issued by a Wynberg magistrate was invalid and should be set aside and that police could not use seized items as evidence in their criminal investigation against him. “If the high court application succeeds, it will ultimately determine the charges on which he will be prosecuted,” said Barker. The high court application is set for Friday, but will in all likelihood be postponed as the SAPS has not yet filed a replying affidavit. The Bellville District Court heard that the high court matter would be heard again only on March 3.

Scheepers argued in his high court application that a possible reason for the raid on his offices was information he had received from three of his informers early this year that in exchange for money, a high-ranking police officer would regularly attend meetings with well-known drug lords and criminal gang bosses in the Western Cape. These meetings would allegedly discuss undermining rival gangs and ways of ensuring the distribution of drugs in the province. Scheepers’s criminal case was postponed to February 4. Soon after hearing that his case was postponed, Scheepers put on a hoodie jacket, covered his head and made a dash for his car, beating many of the waiting media pack outside.