Investigator to challenge making order stopping him from monitoring journalists permanent
On Wednesday. a former Hawks member now employed by a pre-eminent private investigations firm, will challenge an application to make final interim protection orders prohibiting him from conducting further surveillance on journalists. Nico Smith‚ the head of investigations and intelligence at Combined Private Investigations (CPI)‚ has been accused of spying on journalists and politicians on behalf of Gupta-linked persons‚ with assistance from an employee at a leading cellphone service provider. Last week, The Sunday Times revealed that Smith allegedly gained unlawful access to the cellphone records of Tiso Blackstar editor-at-large Peter Bruce‚ Financial Mail editor Rob Rose and former finance minister Trevor Manuel — all outspoken critics of the Gupta family’s ransacking of state coffers. Parts of these records were published on Gupta-linked fake news site ‘wmcleaks.com’ on August 13‚ including records of Bank of Baroda CEO Manoj Kumar Jha‚ in an article that sought to link Manuel‚ ...
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