‘You have lied under oath’: lawyer accuses Brown Mogotsi of perjury

Controversial businessman Brown Mogotsi was grilled on Wednesday over contradictions and alleged perjury in his testimony, including at the Madlanga commission.

“You have lied under oath in this affidavit … which is perjury, is it not?” asked evidence leader Matthew Chaskalson.

Mogotsi faced a tense cross-examination on Wednesday as Chaskalson pointed out inconsistencies in his affidavits.

Mogotsi denied intentionally misleading the commission, insisting that he had been relying on affidavits prepared by lawyers.

“I stand by my submission that you’re lying in relation to what happened then. You lied under oath then,” Chaskalson said.

Earlier, Chaskalson had put it to Mogotsi that his allegations that KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi and Zulu King Misuzulu kaZwelithini were US CIA agents sounded like a misdirection tactic.

Mogotsi told the commission on Tuesday that Mkhwanazi and King Misuzulu were recruited by the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

In his statement, Mogotsi said he had [allegedly] obtained information from one of his sources that MisuZulu and Mkhwanazi were recruited by and actively worked for the American CIA.

Mogotsi also told the commission that he had been informed that both Mkhwanazi and King Misuzulu were recruited to protect Western interests in South Africa.

He explained that this claim was linked to a coal mine and export routes through the Richards Bay Coal Terminal. According to him, there were worries that the government might stop coal exports, some of which he said involved Israeli interests, especially after South Africa took Israel to the International Criminal Court.

However, Chaskalson pointed out discrepancies in Mogotsi’s testimony, noting that there was no coal mine in Richards Bay and that the coal terminal there is owned by a consortium of more than 10 different mining companies, each of whom has its own export quota.

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