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Military legal boss Brigadier-General Ernest Zwane has claimed defence force top brass knew he was a convicted fraudster before they made him head of military prosecutions.

And, in a letter addressed to Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota and SANDF chiefs, Zwane claimed he himself informed one of the minister’s top advisers – Major General Bailey Mmono, the chief (adjutant general) of the SANDF’s military legal services division – that he was unqualified for the job.

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

He wrote: “I was emphatic to the adjutant general that I didn’t meet the requirements for the post in that I didn’t possess the requisite departmental courses in military law.

“I was mindful that I wasn’t of sound character as required by the Military Discipline Supplementary Measures Act and confirmed same with the adjutant general.

“It’s 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. Claims that my conviction and sentence were unknown to the department are artificial.”

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

Zwane said he had “no interest” in a position as director of military prosecutions, from which Lekota dismissed him shortly after news of his convictions broke.

Since Lekota axed him, Zwane said, he had “endured undue public crucifixion as a result of the innuendo that I had ambitions to the post ... whereas I was at the receiving end of a vicious anti-transformation campaign”.

He added: “All blame has been heaped on me for the minister’s lapse, by those who bear the greatest responsibility for the minister’s slip.”

The SANDF last week confirmed that Zwane had been given an administrative discharge, 23 months after Lekota reversed his military prosecutions post.

In this time, Zwane served as director of the SANDF’s legal support services – a position in which he was responsible for the recruitment, training and disciplining of military lawyers, and the appointment of military judges.

In response to questions about why it had taken the defence force so long to discharge Zwane, a departmental e-mail stated: “The department ... had to follow its internal processes to conclude the matter.”

Zwane said in his letter he had yet to receive any official record of his discharge from the defence force and therefore remained “a member of the SANDF in good standing”.

He said he would seek “redress” should Lekota not resolve his grievances over his “unreasonable and unfair” discharge.

Zwane’s grievances include claims that at least seven high-ranking defence force members retained their positions despite being convicted of serious offences. “The senior echelons of the SANDF are top-heavy with generals and flag officers with criminal convictions against their names for which they have not received amnesty,” he said.

He was seeking amnesty for his convictions.