The many faces of Agliotti

2009-11-03 21:13

Johannesburg - Norbert "Glenn" Agliotti: A man who "knows all the gangsters" and isn't ashamed to cry, a fashion connoisseur with a rainbow of ties, a kind-hearted gentleman and a convicted drug trafficker.

These are among the faces the South Gauteng High Court has seen, over 11 days, of the State witness in the corruption trial of his once-friend, former police head Jackie Selebi.

Agliotti's friendship with the man he nicknamed "Jax" and "Chief" began over charitable endeavours, including the plight of ANC exiles and a police torch run for the Special Olympics.

Selebi was his shopping buddy, but he also became his cash cow, using him to obtain a $1m consulting free from slain mining magnate Brett Kebble and his associates.

"I deemed the accused as a friend... obviously I used that friendship for my own gain," Agliotti said.

Gifts

It came naturally to him to want to shower Selebi with gifts.

"Take it, fuck it, I am like that. You ask people like Jackie. I have got a big heart," the court heard at one stage in a 2003 recording of a conversation between Agliotti and then acting crime intelligence head Mulangi Mphego.

Agliotti maintains only innocent intentions underlay his gifts, including a payment of R200 000, to the accused.

"I still maintain to this day that I never bribed the accused." Agliotti said. While he never got a gift back from Selebi, the former police chief did show him a UK intelligence report tracking his movements.

This, Agliotti says, he simply took as a friendly gesture.

"When the accused showed me the reports, I thought he was doing it out of friendship... I said 'thank you'."

Friendship ruined Agliotti

Nevertheless the friendship ultimately ruined Agliotti's life.

"It's a political game and unfortunately I got caught up in the middle," he said in a recording played in court.

He got "tarnished", he said, because the Scorpions were "obsessed" with bringing Selebi down.

"They fucked up my life, my business, my relationship."

The friendship came to an abrupt halt after Agliotti's arrest in 2006 on drug dealing charges.

"He never spoke to you, he never sent you any good wishes, Christmas wishes?" State prosecutor Gerrie Nel asked.

"No," replied the man Selebi once called "his friend, finished and klaar".

Emotional

However, three years later, Agliotti showed he could still get emotional about the relationship, breaking down in tears in the first week of the trial at having to testify against Selebi.

"My Lord, it's not easy being here. I didn't want to be here to testify against my then friend and the accused."

Courtroom 4B has over the weeks also learned of many of Agliotti's likes and dislikes.

He favours: the National Intelligence Agency - meeting with them in January last year to complain about a political conspiracy against himself. Also on his 'In' list are his lawyer Laurance Hodes, "festive" family lunches served up with wine and the airplane shopping trolley in first class.

Besides purchasing two Mont Blanc pens for former Director of Public Prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka, Agliotti told the court: "I would buy all the air hostesses in first class perfume."

Kind-hearted man

When defence lawyer Jaap Cilliers once put to him that Selebi regarded him as a "very kind-hearted man", Agliotti nodded vigorously.

Agliotti has however shown displeasure at any suggestion he could have done something bad.

Referring to Mail&Guardian coverage of him, he told the court: "They made me out to be the so-called big drug lord, landlord, the mafia boss. It was all bullshit."

Also on Agliotti's list of dislikes are: the Sandton police station cells where he once spent some time and the "insult" that he would give a pen knife as a gift.

There appears little love lost between him and the Scorpions - with a particular thumbs down to Nel.

"I don't particularly like Mr Nel and I say that with respect," he told the court in the beginning stages of his testimony.

Tendency to lie

Agliotti has admitted to weaknesses of memory loss and a propensity to lie, sometimes.

"You take your mind back and you try and remember as much as you can," Agliotti explained earlier.

"There have been inconsistencies in my statement. They are not intentional."

Another time he admitted that "There are certain instances when I lie."

Agliotti stands to receive indemnity from prosecution on various charges if he testified "frankly and honestly". Whether he receives this will still be decided by Judge Meyer Joffe at the end of the trial, after submissions from both the State and the defence.

As Agliotti's testimony ends, it seems apparent, that at least once, Selebi was special to him.

Asked by Cilliers if he knew any other Jackies or Jacks, he said: "Only [advocate] Max Hodes' dog", telling reporters later it was a Jack Russell.

- SAPA