Media statement on behalf of Mr Johann van Loggerenberg

18 January 2022

Our client has requested us to issue the following on his behalf to all media: I would like to make the following public.

My home and home office were invaded during the early hours of this morning by criminals.

Given the poor state of our criminal justice system and the high crime levels in South Africa, it may simply be of a general criminal nature. However, entry was attempted with some sophistication via various entry points at my home in a very suspicious manner. I have reason to suspect that there is a possibility that it was no ordinary crime. Four very distinct indicators of the house robbery suggest that it may not have been ordinary criminal conduct. I am deliberately not explaining these as it may be of value to the police that are investigating the matter.

I record that I am a whistle-blower of State Capture events at the South African Revenue Service and the Criminal Justice System and State Intelligence Agencies as from 2014 onwards. I was a witness at the so-called Zondo Commission on matters pertaining to the South African Revenue Service and our State Intelligence Services. I am also a complainant and state witness in matters under investigation by the Inspector-General of Intelligence and the Independent Directorate of the National Prosecuting Authority. This is public knowledge. Those I have implicated are aware of the nature of the evidence against them. I have had to live with receiving various threats and warnings against my safety for many years, from as far as 2014 and onwards. I have always reported these to the relevant authorities. At no stage has the South African Revenue Service, State Intelligence Agencies, police of any other relevant authority responded to my requests for assistance in dealing with the threats against me to date in any manner or form. I have always had to address these risks at my own cost.

It would be remiss of me not to state that I have also taken note of the content of Volume 1, part 3 of the Zondo Commission Report released recently, with specific reference to my evidence.

I am part of an organised support group of Survivors of State Capture at the South African Revenue Service, and an organised civil society group of Zondo Commission whistle-blowers.

I can tell the public that many of us in these groups have for many years been and remain fearful and concerned for our safety and security. It has always remained up to us to ensure our own safety. Continued calls upon the government to assist us in assessing risks to us, risk to the evidence we hold and to assist in ensuring our wellbeing have received no response or action or even acknowledgement. We remain under immense pressure on many levels. I have no doubt that if my safety as a whistle-blower and witness was of any concern to the government and if I had been meaningfully assisted in ensuring my safety, the culprits would either not have had the opportunity to commit the crimes they have, or alternatively would have been caught in the act. The same principle applies to all bona fide whistle-blowers in South Africa.

It is no secret that whistle-blowers in South Africa remain under severe and constant strain on many levels with absolutely no support from the government. We only have to refer to well publicised cases where whistle-blowers and state witnesses had been assaulted, threatened, surveilled, murdered, or had to leave the country for their own safety. Many of us have been victims of suspicious house invasions, theft and threats. I am not the only State Capture witness who has been a victim of a break-in in the last week.

I wish to use this opportunity to call upon our government to please take decisive action to protect whistle-blowers and not delay any longer. The continued inaction and tardiness of the government in dealing with the entire topic of whistle-blowers spells disaster for our young and developing constitutional democracy.

Crime is out of control. Our government is legally, morally and ethically bound to act with greater haste and more determination and visible action in this regard. It cannot continue like this.

If those who perpetrated this crime happen to be connected to those I have implicated and believe that they’ve managed to deprive me of any evidence that implicates them through this crime, they are sadly mistaken. What they managed to steal are mere copies and the proper records are safely kept elsewhere. I am also not intimidated by the event. I call upon all South Africans to join all efforts to ensure that the government takes the safety of whistle-blowers and state witnesses seriously. We can no longer afford the existing lip-service and no action.

I would like to thank the two police officers from my local police station who attended at the scene this morning when I called, along with the forensic detective who followed soon thereafter. They handled the matter with the utmost professionalism.12 I have also engaged with a private security and investigations firm at their cost and willingness to assist me in the matter and help me beef up my security. I would like to thank them as patriotic South Africans for their immediate assistance and support when I called upon them.

I will not be answering to media enquiries in this regard.

Issued by Werksmans Attorneys, 18 January 2022