News24 has demanded in writing that the Crime Intelligence (CI) division of the South African Police Service (SAPS) immediately cease what it says is deliberate surveillance of investigative journalist Jeff Wicks.
The demand has been conveyed in letters to the acting head of CI, Lieutenant-General Yolisa Mokgabudi, the inspector-general of intelligence, Setlhomamare Dintwe, and the designated interceptions judge, Judge Bess Nkabinde.
The news organisation said Wicks ‘has seemingly been followed and his communications allegedly intercepted’.
News24 decided to write the letters after receiving information ‘from three well-placed and reliable sources that a “counter-intelligence” operation was launched in February to determine who Wicks’ sources for News24’s continuing coverage on police ructions are’.
It said that, according to this information, Wicks was identified as a target and had been the subject of an ongoing operation involving a ‘grabber’, a device which can track and trace a cellphone.
Adriaan Basson, News24’s editor-in-chief, has condemned the apparent surveillance of Wicks and said he hoped the matter would be dealt with swiftly.
He said: ‘Jeff has been leading the reporting on the turf battles in CI for months. As outrageous as it is that some in the police think it’s acceptable to spy on a journalist and try to uncover his sources, it is not surprising. The police as a whole, and CI in particular, have been at the heart of party capture by opposing factions in the ANC. It would be naïve to think this stopped with the change of guard in 2018.’