Axed former SSA top spy Thulani Dlomo speaks out on claims of his alleged involvement in KZN looting
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Durban - Axed former SSA top spy and former SA ambassador to Japan, Thulani Dlomo, has finally spoken out after he was accused of being one of the 12 people behind fuelling the unrest ravaging KZN and Gauteng. Speaking from an unknown location, as usual, Dlomo said he was taken aback when the news surfaced and instructed his lawyers to write to deputy state security minister, Zizi Kodwa, seeking clarification and evidence.
In a statement first shared with Independent Media on Friday afternoon, Dlomo, who is known for being allegedly close to jailed former president Jacob Zuma, said he was taken aback by the claims. “I reject with the contempt that it deserves, any attempt to link me to the unrest happening in the country. This is but a smokescreen to deflect from legitimate concerns about the arrest of President Jacob Zuma and the frustration due to poverty of the communities and people. “Instead of trying to blame instigators, as was done during the apartheid years, government should focus on addressing the core issues that are well known to them,” Dlomo said in his statement.
He claimed that when the violence started, he was approached by some State officials asking him to help it to quell the violence. “Notwithstanding these defamatory and malicious statements by Deputy Minister Zizi Kodwa, I have been contacted by Senior members of government seeking my help and assistance to address the current difficulties, especially in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. “I have indicated to senior members of government that I am more than willing to assist. It is in our country’s interest to have stability and to protect the lives of innocent people and communities.
“I am currently engaging with senior members of government to help them better understand the issues. Why would senior members of government meet me and contact me to help them if I am supposedly a so-called instigator?” Dlomo asked. Furthermore, he blamed some media houses for running articles about him and using a picture of him in Zulu regalia as an attempt to fuel the perception of “ethnic mobilisation.” “I am shown in a photograph dressed in Zulu attire in an attempt to support this propaganda of ethnic mobilisation. I am continuously referred to as Zuma’s spy. The facts are that I served my country for more than two decades in the security services, and most recently as Ambassador to Japan. I do not serve any individual. I serve my country, and I continue to engage with senior members of government to serve my country today.
“I do not know of any twelve so-called instigators, and this is simply a smokescreen and a figment of the imagination of people such as Deputy Minister Zizi Kodwa.” Going for Kodwa’s throat, Dlomo said he must produce evidence that Dlomo is behind the violence or withdraw the remarks. “I challenge Mr Kodwa or any other person to bring proof of any instigators and any proof that I have been involved in any such instigation of unrest. Instead, by spewing your wild propaganda, you have placed my life and the life of my family at risk.
PPA S.A.: Captain Weng Lin meets Japan’s Ambassador to Greece
PPA’s Deputy CEO Captain Weng Lin met yesterday at the company’s headquarters Japan’s Ambassador to Greece, Νakayama Yasunori. Embassy officials, Mr Taku Aramaki and Hidetoshi Watanabe along with representatives of known Japanese brands participated also in the meeting. During the meeting topics of various interest were discussed. Part of the discussions were also the significant investments implemented at the Port of Piraeus turning the Port into one of the most state of the art European Ports, along with sharing updates on the plans and the upgrade and modernization strategy in the upcoming period. After the meeting a tour through the Port facilities followed.
Captain Weng Lin, PPA’s Deputy CEO, at the end of the meeting, after thanking the Japan Ambassador and all guests, stressed the necessity and importance of such meetings regarding the Port of Piraeus, already playing a significant role in a European and global level.
Source: Piraeus Port Authority SA
Former top spy Thulani Dhlomo surrenders to police after being fingered in unrest
Durban - Hours after issuing a public statement denying any role in the ongoing and crippling unrest in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, former top spy and SA ambassador to Japan, Thulani Dhlomo, has reportedly handed himself to the police. Dhlomo is allegedly one of the 12 people the State is eyeing for prosecution for their prominent role in instigating the unrest that has so far left 212 people dead and a trail of economic destruction.
Various media reports on Friday claimed that Dhlomo said he handed himself to the police because he feared for his life after he was wrongly fingered for being the rogue spy behind the crisis. Attempts by Independent Media to speak to Dhlomo failed as his phone was switched off. Another attempt to speak to Dhlomo’s long-time lawyer, Philani Shangase from Durban, failed as he neither took calls nor replied to messages late on Friday. It was also not clear at which police station he hand himself in, but his last known location, some two years back, was Durban, where he lived with his wife and children after he was fired for allegedly going AWOL.
In his statement earlier where he chastised deputy state security minister, Zizi Kodwa, Dhlomo did confirm that by outing him, and unfairly so, as Kodwa claimed that he is behind the unrest, was putting him and his family in danger. “I challenge Mr Kodwa or any other person to bring proof of any instigators and any proof that I have been involved in any such instigation of unrest. Instead, by spewing your wild propaganda, you have placed my life and the life of my family at risk. “I am calling upon Mr Kodwa to withdraw his statement and to stop peddling lies about me, failing which, I will instruct my attorneys for a claim of significant damages against him personally,” he said in the statement.