The Minister of Police has been called upon to to investigate the suspicious circumstances under which whistleblower, Alan Langton, was arrested in the Pietermaritzburg High Court on Friday.
It was understood that Langton appeared in court to testify, after he has been cooperating with the Special Investigations Unit for several months. Langton has made allegations of a huge racket operating within the KwaZulu Natal Department of Social Development, allegedly involving a large number of ANC politicians and parliamentarians. Allegedly, this racket included operatives within the Department of Social Development and the South African Revenue Service, and defrauded the State in respect of hundreds of public tenders.
Langton admitted to having been hired to set up this racket and, moved by conscience, decided to come clean, revealing it all to the authorities.
IFP MP, Mr JH van der Merwe said; “On several occasions we requested the Special Investigations Unit to place him in the Witness Protection Program, because there had already been several attempts to assassinate him, some allegedly conducted by former members of the South African Police Service. It is shocking that Langton was not placed in any such program and had to run from place to place to protect his life from assassination attempts.
“His being arrested raises serious doubts over the commitment to protecting whistleblowers and the effectiveness of the Witness Protection Program. We fear for his life and physical safety while he is in prison, and we call on the Minister to take any measure available to ensure that no harm is done to him or his family.”
