MBOMBELA – ANC presidential hopeful, Dr Mathews Phosa is convinced that the hoax bomb threats made against his former law firm on Friday were politically motivated.
The bomb squad was called in and temporarily interested in a pressure cooker, before the threats could be deemed a hoax at Du Toit-Smuts and Partners.
Phosa’s office manager, Debbie Burnett, said they believed the bomb threat was definitely linked to Phosa, as it occurred two days after he launched his campaign for the ANC’s elective conference at Bundu Lodge.
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“It was too coincidental not to be related,” she said. She added that very few people knew that Phosa was now a partner in Frans Schutte and Mathews Phosa Attorneys, after leaving Du Toit-Smuts in April.
According to police spokesman Dawie Pretorius, the firm received four anonymous calls stating that there was a bomb in the building on Friday morning. In the last of the four, the unknown caller said that he was phoning on behalf of Mathews Phosa and there was a bomb, so they had to evacuate the building.
“I think this incident has nothing to do with him,” senior partner at Du Toit-Smuts and Partners, Johan Oosthuizen, added.
Pretorius said as of Monday morning there had been no arrests, and they were still investigating the case.
He said the police were called that morning when the receptionist at the firm received the calls. The hoax caller was allegedly a male with a South African English accent.
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The police flying squad’s Capt Pieter Smit and Hi-Tech Security Lowveld’s team were the first to arrive at the scene.
Police and security cordoned off the street in front of the building.
Smit evaluated the situation and called in the bomb squad.
Hi-Tech Security Lowveld response manager, Callum Mac Pherson said he got a call from the law firm, as it is a Hi-Tech client.
“We have been trained by disaster management regarding what to do in a case of a bomb threat. So we blocked off both sides of the road to minimise traffic.
“By the time we arrived, all the staff had evacuated the building. We also arranged our ambulance to be on standby,” said Mc Pherson.
On the scene, Smit said because the unknown caller had not given a time limit, the bomb squad could do an entire sweep of the area.
When the squad arrived, members donned their protective gear and entered the building with the K9 unit dogs and their equipment.
Pretorius said the bomb unit requested bystanders not to use their cellphones at a scene. “This was to ensure everyone’s safety. Any one of those phones in the crowd could be a detonator for a bomb,” said Pretorius at the scene.
One hour later the bomb unit came out of the building and proceeded to dress one of its members in 25 kilograms of safety gear before he could examine the suspicious package.
Three of the police dogs identified the package, a gift the law firm had received about two weeks prior.
“It was a box with a pressure cooker in it. If it was not a bomb, there could have be elements that triggered an alert with the dogs that we could could not ignore. Also somebody could have swapped the parcel or put something in it. We could not take risks,” said Pretorius.
The squad member placed the parcel into the middle of the road. He carefully inserted a tiny camera to see what was inside the package.
“He had to check the box for any tripwires. This was a dangerous and risky task. Bombers are known to try and use all kinds of tricks to set off an explosion when you least expect it,” said Pretorius.
Provincial police spokesman, Col Mtsholi Bhembe said that after carefully examining the package, the bomb squad cleared the scene. “The investigation continues, as we find this still a serious crime, as the perpetrator has wasted the police’s valuable time and resources.”
