March 13, 14:07
MBOMBELA – The former house manager of Dr Mathews Phosa, Mr Jan Venter, who made an affidavit about his knowledge of the spy allegations made against premier, Mr David Mabuza, has reacted strongly against the latest media reports on the case.
Venter spoke to Lowvelder this morning (Friday) and said he can prove that he did not steal from the Phosa family and neither made false statements about what he had witnessed.
This he will try and do in court next week when the criminal case against him will be heard in court. The whole debacle made headlines this week when it came to light that Venter had made an affidavit in February this year to the acting deputy commissioner of North West, Maj Gen Jacob Tsumane, who had been appointed by the national police commissioner, Gen Riah Phiyega, to investigate the criminal case of defamation opened by Mabuza against Phosa.
The feud between these two senior politicians has been on the front pages since the end of last year. Venter says he had already informed Mabuza’s office in July 2014 about what he had overheard at Phosa’s home during his employment. “They didn’t give any attention to it and I left it. I was only contacted recently to make an affidavit and I only said what I heard.”
In his affidavit Venter says a business partner of Phosa came to visit and he overheard the men talking. His statement reads: “He will draft a report and send it to Luthuli House to prove that the premier of Mpumalanga, Mr DD Mabuza, is indeed a spy.”
Venter states that he gave the men blank papers and saw them drafting something on it. He however never saw what was written on it. He also vehemently denied all allegations that he had been paid to make a statement and told Lowvelder, “I didn’t receive one cent for it.”
Phosa and Venter however, has had bad blood between them since May 2014 when Venter resigned from his position, but Venter is adamant that he had not stolen anything. “When I was appointed in January 2014, Dr Phosa bought a vehicle and we agreed that I would pay him R5 000 per month until it was fully paid and then it would be registered on my name. This amount was deducted from my salary.” Their relationship turned sour about a number of things of which the final straw was when Venter’s father was on his deathbed and his employer did not show enough compassion. “I decided to resign.” There was however, unfinished business as Phosa also tasked him with projects around the house and Venter had already received payment and the work was incomplete.
“In my resignation letter I gave a six-week notice period in order to finalise these projects, but they wanted me to go immediately.”
In subsequent correspondence following his resignation, Venter asked about the R5 000 monthly payments and whether he would be refunded for it. In the same email he pledged to hand over copies of all family photos as well as a cellphone and a flash drive.
Phosa’s office replied and said they had no problem with the refunding of his payments and then mentioned private trips that had to be taken into account when the calculations were to be made. In the same mail Venter was urged to return all photos, mails and other private documents on his computer and that he wasn’t allowed to keep copies of it.
Phosa denied most of Venter’s claim and has confirmed that an affidavit to the effect will be filed tomorrow (Saturday). He claimed that Venter has also gone back on his word about delivering all documents and photos related to the Phosa family. Two letters from Venter’s lawyer dated May 2014 confirmed that all the relevant documents had indeed been given to Phosa’s assistant and that the rest was deleted from his computer.
Yet, in Venter’s most recent affidavit, he states that “Mr Phosa’s security manager threatened me because he wanted all the documents or photos I have in my posession whilst I was working for Mr Phosa. I refused because all documents in my possession belongs to me. I never signed any confidentiality contract with Mr Phosa.”
March13, 06:00
MBOMBELA – Dr Mathews Phosa has instituted further legal action against a former employee who claims he witnessed Phosa writing a report last year, accusing Mpumalanga premier Mr David Mabuza of being an apartheid spy.
Phosa reacted after a report appeared in City Press on Monday which stated that Mr Jan Venter had compiled an affidavit, stating that Phosa allegedly wrote a report last year accusing Mabuza of being a spy.
Also read: Reporting spy allegations was his duty, says Phosa
The premier vehemently denied this and stated in November last year that he was convinced that Phosa had written the report himself.
Read: Premier at loggerheads with Phosa
According to City Press, Venter’s affidavit was given to acting deputy police commissioner of North West, Maj Gen Jacob Tsumane, who had been appointed by national police commissioner Genl Riah Phiyega to investigate a criminal case of defamation opened by Mabuza against Phosa.
Phosa consequently issued a media statement on Wednesday, stating that he was surprised that, according to the City Press report, the affidavit was compiled in 2014, whereas to his knowledge, there were people who had had the document for the past five years. “These people will, upon request, testify before any court regarding how long they have had this document before it was purportedly manufactured in my house, as alluded in the quoted affidavit,” he said.
“A legal process has started to evaluate the merit of the defamation allegations made against me, for which this affidavit was deposed, hence it is unnecessary for me to at this stage make a statement thereto. However, should the matter ever reach court, this allegation will not stand.”
It is clear from Phosa’s statement that he and Venter, who had been employed to manage his residence, didn’t part on amicable terms. “Not only has he (Venter) invaded my privacy by trying to leak photos of my family’s private lives in the media and my confidential business information, but he has also gone out of his way to brand me in a negative light.”
He explained that he and Venter had a fall-out in May last year. “After he resigned, he commenced a campaign which, to my legal mind, was aimed at tarnishing my image and impugn my integrity.
“Some close associates even suspected there was a political motive; personally I failed to see it. My response was to file a lawsuit against him and claim money he allegedly stole to the amount of about R53 000. I also laid criminal charges for theft and fraud against him, for which he is still to appear in court on May 5 this year.”
Phosa said, until last year, he would have vouched for Venter’s character as an upstanding man of principles and Christian who performed his duties with the competency expected from a man of his calibre.
“I do not know what could have emboldened Venter to make such a statement, especially in light of my ongoing ligation (sic) against him, aimed solely to dissuade him from making defamatory statements in future. I suspect whatever may have persuaded him to take this cause is worth more than the R53 000 for which I am suing him and I have applied for default judgement today because he failed to file a defence. The same way the CCMA action against me was dismissed.”
