Nkosi grilled over sharing confidential SAPS document with taxi boss Steve Motsumi
Gauteng Organised Crime Unit member, Sergeant Fannie Nkosi, has again struggled to explain why he shared a confidential police document with a member of the public, businessman and taxi boss Steve Motsumi.
The Madlanga Commission on Tuesday heard that Nkosi sent the document via WhatsApp.
The document, used to record information about suspects, contains highly sensitive details including names and addresses of complainants, witness identities, and a list of stolen items - among them firearms with serial numbers.
Commission chairperson Mbuyiseli Madlanga repeatedly questioned Nkosi on whether the document was confidential at the time it was shared.
“Sergeant, I’ve asked this question several times… was it a confidential SAPS document?” Madlanga asked.
Nkosi responded: “I was never given an opportunity to fully explain. Perhaps this time I can.”
Madlanga pressed further: “No. Look at the document. From the moment Mr. Chaskalson [Evidence leader] drew your attention to it, you knew what it was. Surely you can answer: yes or no. Was it a confidential SAPS document?”
Nkosi attempted to delay: “Can we park the question, Commissioner?”
Madlanga replied firmly: “Why should we? Is it because you cannot determine from the nature of the document whether it was confidential? I don’t see why we should delay.
"If we do, I may conclude that you are avoiding the question. Is it that you cannot tell whether it was confidential, and that’s why you need time? I want to understand your thinking.”
Counsel Hartley Ngoato intervened: “Commissioner, may we have a two-minute stand-down just to provide advice to the client?”
Madlanga rejected the request: “Not in the middle of a simple question like this. I’ve repeated it several times. If he says he doesn’t understand, I would find that surprising.
"Let me repeat: At the time the document was written and sent, was it a confidential SAPS document, or was it intended for public consumption?”
Nkosi admitted, “Commissioner, I want to be honest. The difficulty arises because I shared the document.”
Madlanga said, “I suggest the reason you’re struggling to answer is that you shared what is clearly a confidential document and are now trying to justify that decision. Do you wish to respond?”
Nkosi replied: “I cannot respond, Commissioner.”
Madlanga asked in a follow-up: “Is it SAPS practice that suspects are identified publicly before they appear in court?”
“No,” Nkosi answered.
The commission chairperson pointed out that the document identified suspects on 27 May, two days before they were due to appear in court, meaning the information could not have been public. Nkosi agreed that the document was confidential.
Co-commissioner Sesi Baloyi took Nkosi to task over the sharing of sensitive information.
“It tells Mr Motsumi who the complainant is, gives him the address and cellphone number… and also the name and whereabouts of a witness,” Baloyi said.
“That is information you share with a member of the public whose interest you have not clarified to us.”
Baloyi added that the document contained a truckload of stolen chrome, two pistols identified by serial numbers, ammunition rounds, stolen cellphones with their value, and names and dates of birth of suspects, along with their nationalities and linked case numbers.
It also revealed that police were continuing investigations to track the buyer and recover stolen goods.
“You are telling a civilian that police are tracking the buyer and all the stolen goods.
"You give information that is obviously internal to SAPS. The question is: why would you give this information to Mr Motsumi?” Baloyi asked.
She criticised Nkosi for failing to be transparent about his reasons for sharing the document, noting that his earlier claim, that it was due to Motsumi’s interest in crime matters, was insufficient.
Nkosi defended his actions: “I am sending this to Motsumi to praise the good work that the police have done because he is concerned that the police are not working and people are not protected.”
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