DURBAN - A former “spy” at the State Security Agency (SSA) and Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) head of security, Dr Mandisa Mokwena, has come out strongly against what she described as a “smear campaign” aimed at tarnishing her image.
In a statement issued by the Mokwena family on Wednesday, the family refuted media reports that alleged that Mokwena managed rogue intelligence operations, despite not being a member of the SSA.
The reports in the media had also alleged that “she used the company of an SSA member to enter an illegal contract to misappropriate SSA funds and allegedly received R1.8 million per month through temporary advances taken from the SSA.”
In her defence, Mokwena said the reports making the rounds in the media were false allegations and outright lies.
“The article follows questions Dr Mokwena received from a journalist. The questions were responded to sufficiently - refuting all the false, baseless allegations - including referring the journalist to Dr Mokwena's affidavits submitted to the commission refuting the same false allegations. However, the reporter ignored the detailed responses given to them, including the affidavit.
“What appears as Dr Mokwena's response(s) is a portion of a paragraph cut from the middle of one response to allow for the dominant false narrative of that publication to remain prominent,” read the statement.
Mokwena decried the deliberate misrepresentation of the responses she gave to the reporter who published the article and accused the reporter of driving a narrative that would fit “their story and its objective - which was to smear the targeted individuals”.
“It is safe to conclude that the article published in the media is nothing but a propaganda piece that seeks to frame a message and image of Dr Mokwena as someone who is not a law-abiding citizen. The propaganda smear is rejected with the contempt it deserves.
“Dr Mokwena is a law-abiding citizen who has always conducted her work diligently and abided by the highest ethical standards. Any attempts to frame her differently would fail dismally.”
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