Mon séjour en Afrique du Sud (Cape Town)

Military legal boss Brigadier-General Ernest Zwane claims South African National Defence Force top brass knew he was a convicted fraudster before they made him head of military prosecutions.

And, in an explosive letter addressed to Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota and SANDF chiefs, Zwane claims he himself informed one of the minister’s top advisers, Adjutant-General Major-General Bailey Mmono, that he was unqualified for the job and not “fit and proper” to do it.

Zwane, who was convicted of falsifying his qualifications and the illegal possession of arms and ammunition in 2005, wrote the letter in reaction to his reported administrative discharge from the SANDF last week.

In the document, he states: “I was emphatic to the Adjutant-General that I didn’t meet the requirements for the post in that I did not possess the requisite departmental courses in military law.

“I was mindful that, regrettably, I was not of sound character as required by the Military Discipline Supplementary Measures Act and confirmed (the) same with the Adjutant-General …

“It is extremely unfair that I should be the fall guy in the event that the minister appointed me to the post on recommendation of the Adjutant-General, not based on a due and diligent inquiry whether I was a fit and proper person. I withheld nothing.”

Describing his arrest by the Scorpions as “Hollywood-style” and highly publicised, Zwane said “claims that my conviction and sentence were unknown to the department are artificial”.

Lekota’s spokesperson, Sam Mkhwanazi, yesterday said the minister stood by his comments that, at the time of Zwane’s appointment, the information about his convictions was not made available to him.

While the SANDF has confirmed his discharge, Zwane, however, claims in his letter to Lekota that he has yet to receive any official record of his discharge and therefore remains “a member of the SANDF in good standing”.