NIA head 'not asked to resign'
2011-09-12 08:42
Johannesburg - National Intelligence Agency head Gibson Njenje has not been asked to resign, his lawyer said on Monday.
"That's not correct," Jeff Bortz told SABC radio news in an interview.
"According to my client there have been discussions between him and the government regarding a possible alternative position for him in government.
"Those discussions have not been finalised and so at the moment, Mr Njenje remains in his position."
Asked whether the relationship between Njenje and State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele was strained, he replied: "At the moment, I would imagine [the relationship] to be normal."
Source
He said the source of weekend media reports on Njenje's resignation was not known.
"One never knows where reports emanate from and how reports come to surface."
Sunday newspapers reported that the ministry had said Njenje had resigned, but the spy chief denied this.
The Sunday Independent quoted him as saying: "I am planning to go to work on Monday. I am in talks with the minister about things that I can't talk about. But I am not aware that I have resigned."
City Press reported that Cwele had asked secret service boss Mo Shaik and the head of the State Security Agency, Jeff Maqetuka, to quit, but said they had refused and sought legal advice.
According to the Sunday Independent, Njenje, Shaik and Maqetuka recently complained to President Jacob Zuma about difficulties in their relationship with Cwele.
Njenje is reported to have been unhappy about "unauthorised" operations that flew in the face of his efforts to ensure that the NIA was not exploited for political purposes.
City Press said he was also unhappy about a decision to grant Cwele's wife Sheryl full intelligence protection throughout her drug trafficking trial.
- SAPA
