As sentencing approaches for former Crime Intelligence head Paul Scheepers, who was recently convicted on multiple charges including fraud and money laundering, questions are being raised about Helen Zille’s alleged connections to the disgraced officer.
Scheepers was found guilty by the Bellville Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on charges of fraud, violations of the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) and the Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communication-related Information Act (RICA), as well as money laundering. Among the offences were possession of illegal surveillance equipment without authorisation.
Former ANC MP and Western Cape Provincial Secretary Faiez Jacobs has called on Zille to clarify her association with Scheepers, who now faces direct imprisonment.
Similarly, former Western Cape police Major-General Jeremy Vearey criticised the former premier’s alleged links, which Zille had previously described as a limited business engagement with Scheepers’ private investigation company, Eagle Eye Solutions.
At the time, Zille challenged reporting by the Cape Times through the Press Council of South Africa, dismissing claims that she had hired Scheepers for covert operations as part of what she called a “fabricated eight-month smear campaign.” The Cape Times’ enquiries to Zille ahead of this article were acknowledged but not answered by deadline.
Scheepers’ company was contracted by the Western Cape provincial government, and he was arrested in May 2015 following raids at his Southfield business and SAPS Crime Intelligence offices in Bishop Lavis.
Vearey criticised Scheepers for discrediting both SAPS and the ANC and alleged that Zille had accepted Scheepers’ information without independently verifying it.
During her tenure as premier, Zille reportedly sought counter-intelligence information through Scheepers, allegedly believing in a theory that ANC actors were attempting to destabilise the DA in the province.
At the time, the ANC urged Zille to confirm that no public funds had been used for surveillance activities. Zille had previously supported the return of Scheepers’ seized equipment, citing its contents as evidence of corruption and connections between gangs, politics, and the drug trade in the Western Cape.
Jacobs has argued that Zille’s actions require further scrutiny, questioning why public funds were allegedly used for covert counter-intelligence operations and raising concerns about potential misuse against opposition figures.
He also highlighted what he described as a broader pattern within the DA of employing criminal officers for illegal surveillance, referencing former Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba’s appointment of Shadrack Sibiya to lead the city’s anti-corruption unit in 2016.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila confirmed that the State will request direct imprisonment during sentencing.
Scheepers’ convictions include failure to disclose police employment while providing surveillance services to private clients, infringing attorney-client privilege, operating as an unregistered private investigator/security provider, illegal possession of a cell phone grabber without ministerial exemption, and concealing R5.59 million in unlawful proceeds.
Scheepers is scheduled to appear in the Bellville Specialised Crimes Court on April 10 for sentencing, during which witnesses are expected to provide arguments for mitigation and aggravation.
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