Kebble 'gunman' disappears
The man who allegedly pulled the trigger of the gun used to kill mining magnate Brett Kebble has disappeared. 
The revelation comes after National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi, in an exclusive interview, confirmed that four men, including the gunman and Kebble's former security head, Clinton Nassif, had struck a deal with the Scorpions.
The deal is believed to have resulted in the men turning State witness against multi-millionaire businessman Glenn Agliotti, who was arrested on Thursday in connection with Kebble's murder late last year.
Agliotti, who was arrested at his luxury Bryanston home in a pre-dawn raid, appeared in the Johannesburg magistrate's court on Thursday on charges of murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
He is due to appear again on December 8 for a formal bail application.
It is believed that the suspected triggerman is a bouncer well known on the Pretoria and Johannesburg nightclub circuit.
In exchange for immunity from prosecution, he and the others gave detailed statements to the Scorpions on the key role Agliotti allegedly played in an international narcotics and contraband smuggling syndicate.
Scorpions spokesperson Lucinda Moonieya refused to comment on any such deal or "the suspected triggerman's disappearance".
Moonieya said several high-level meetings between the Scorpions and SAPS detectives the past two days had shed light on Kebble's murder.
"The SAPS have given their full co-operation to us and have dedicated two investigators to the Scorpions so that the two agencies can ensure a dedicated approach in the ongoing murder investigation.
"There will be more arrests," said Moonieya.
Police and Scorpion investigators said they had arranged to meet the bouncer after he made his statement, but he did not turn up.
They also said a senior Johannesburg police officer was arrested on Thursday night in connection with the Kebble investigation.
It is believed the Agliotti state witnesses are part of one of South Africa's biggest mafias, which incorporates syndicates smuggling narcotics, counterfeit cigarettes and bootleg liquor into and out of the country.
"We are talking about hundreds of millions of rands worth of drugs that are being brought into South Africa every month," a source close to Agliotti's lawyer Laurance Hodes said.
"These drugs are distributed to nightclubs and other social scenes where they are sold in vast quantities, bringing the syndicate millions in revenue every month."
Selebi, whose friendship with Agliotti has been in the spotlight in recent weeks, said he had adopted a "wait-and-investigate" attitude.
Agliotti called the police commissioner several times from near Kebble's murder scene moments after Kebble was killed.
On why the arrests were made by the Scorpions and not the police, he said: "Two days ago, Divisional Commissioner Johann de Beer, along with his team of specialised investigators, were meant to arrest four people, but they had already submitted themselves to the Scorpions," Selebi told the Pretoria News on Thursday, adding that the men had been questioned by Scorpions investigators at the weekend and granted immunity.
Selebi said the four people police were hoping to arrest would have been charged with murder.
Agliotti was recently fingered as "The Landlord" of an international drug smuggling syndicate following the arrest of five men in an undercover Scorpions operation earlier this year.
The operation saw the recovery of R250-million worth of hashish and dagga from a factory hidden in a storage facility in Alberton. The facility is allegedly owned by Agliotti.
Information given to the Pretoria News shows that at least three of the four State witnesses in Agliotti's case were allegedly distributing the smuggled contraband and narcotics for him to nightclubs throughout South Africa and several southern African countries.
Impeccable sources revealed to the Pretoria News on Thursday that the price on Kebble's head was R1.5-million and his death was allegedly part of a bizarre assisted suicide pact with Agliotti.
The sources disclosed that Kebble had asked his close friend, Agliotti, to assist him with the suicide. Agliotti then, according to our sources, approached Nassif, who in turn contracted the gunman, a former Hell's Angels biker whose identity is known to the Pretoria News.
Explaining why Kebble had approached Agliotti for help, a source said Kebble was in debt, which would only be resolved with a big payout such as life insurance.
"If he committed suicide, the money would not be paid out. Kebble knew that Agliotti was being investigated for fraud and promised to make that investigation disappear in turn for help with his 'suicide'.
"It is as simple as that," he said, adding that the four killers were now turning on Agliotti because of "bad blood".
The "bad blood" is believed to be around a failed deal over narcotics and counterfeit cigarettes.
The four have allegedly given the National Prosecuting Authority information on Agliotti's involvement in international crime syndicates.
They will allegedly be allowed to go free in exchange for Agliotti.
The source said police were following up on information that the weapons used in the "hit" had been ground up and scattered in several fields around Johannesburg and Pretoria.
"I can confirm that police have been searching these areas and other areas for several months with metal detectors for these weapons, which are not guns that you can buy from any gunsmith," he said.
He said police were following up on a number of leads and more people, a number of them prominent South African businessmen linked to mafia organisations, were about to be arrested.
The tensions and lack of co-operation between the SAPS and the Scorpions were recently the subject of a judicial Commission of Inquiry, headed by Judge Sisi Khampempe, which recommended that the Scorpions must report to the Minister of Safety and Security and the National Commissioner of Police.
The Democratic Alliance on Thursday called for Selebi to stand down because of his links to Agliotti, but Selebi dismissed this.
"Give me one reason why I must resign. I've never denied my relationship with Glenn. Never. It has never been a secret. I don't know of his alleged criminality. He did not tell me about it," said Selebi.
This article was originally published on page 1 of Pretoria News on November 17, 2006
Source: Pretoria News
URL: http://www.iol.co.za/index.php…n20061117111138768C168409
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