LETLHOGILE MPUANG
President Mokgweetsi Masisi is said to have had to intervene after the Director General of the Directorate of Intelligence and Security Service (DISS), Peter Magosi, and his counterpart at the Directorate on Corruption and Economic Crimes (DCEC), Tshepo Pilane, reportedly fell out following a docket detailing Magosi’s alleged corruption being leaked to the public late last year.
Impeccable sources say Magosi believes the top brass at DCEC had a hand in the leaking of REF: 2019/0 which contains corruption investigations against him.
Summoned by the President
But Pilane and his deputy, Priscilla Israel, are said to have protested their innocence.
The Gazette is informed that Israel, Pilane and Magosi were summoned to a meeting by President Mokgweetsi Masisi last month and a resolution to investigate the leak was reached.
“The investigations have not exonerated Pilane and Israel but indications are that the file was leaked by someone senior at the DCEC,” a source who cannot be identified said, adding that this has affected levels of trust between DISS and DCEC.
Consequences
More consequences from the fallout is that it may cost Pilane’s full-time appointment as head of the corruption-busting agency. He has been Acting DG since Tymon Katlholo’s suspension in May last year.
Meanwhile, this rift between the two agencies is said to be promoted by the divisions within DCEC. Sources say Israel is also keen to have for the top job at DCEC.
She was transferred to DCEC in 2021 where she was tipped to take over following Katlholo’s suspension. Israel is believed to be a close ally of Magosi.
Even so, the Permanent Secretary to the President, Emma Peloetletse, says she is not aware of any fallout between the two men or even of Magosi’s leaked corruption dossier.
“Both the DCEC and the DISS do not inform me of their investigations,” she said. “So I am not aware of the issues you refer to.”