The State Security Agency will not be drawn into claims raised during a case currently before the High Court that its boss Arthur Fraser tried to influence the outcomes of a court case years ago.
Testifying in a civil case in the Western Cape High Court on Monday, Major General Andre Lincoln said that years ago during a matter relating to his own legal woes, Fraser, who at the time headed the National Intelligence Agency in Cape Town, had asked him to plead guilty.
The charges Lincoln faced in the mid-1990s related to, among other things, drunk driving and going on a trip funded by mafioso Vito Palazzolo and not repaying him.
"[I was told] I will be found guilty, but the agency will ensure I spend no time in prison," Lincoln testified this week.
He also said Fraser contacted him the next morning, asking him not to contest certain evidence in the matter.
Highly-placed sources have told News24 that this means Fraser could be accused of, possibly even charged with, attempting to defeat the ends of justice.
Comment would be 'inappropriate'
On Thursday, asked about the claims that surfaced in court this week and suggestions of charges of defeating the ends of justice, State Security Agency spokesperson Brian Dube declined to comment.
Dube explained that this was because the matter was raised during an ongoing court case.
"It would be inappropriate to proffer a view in this regard," said Dube.
Lincoln was testifying this week in a mammoth case which has to do with events that unfolded after former president Nelson Mandela appointed him to head an exclusive investigative task unit in 1996.
The unit was tasked with probing Palazzolo and his links to politicians, business people and allegedly corrupt police officers.
Lincoln is claiming R15 million in damages from the minister of safety and security (now the minister of police) as he believes colleagues effectively set up his "malicious prosecution".
The case resumes on Monday.