MK party: Spear of Kremlin; Ramaphosa-Putin pact - André Pienaar

André Pienaar is a venture capitalist, CEO, and founder of C5 Capital, a firm with a diverse portfolio spanning the cybersecurity, space, and nuclear power industries. He is also one of the co-founders of the Scorpions, which, according to Pienaar, was one of the most successful law enforcement units. However, it was dismantled by former President Jacob Zuma after the Scorpions started investigating Zuma and the Commissioner of Police, Jackie Selebi, for corruption. Pienaar was accused by Zuma of being a CIA spy, a claim that Pienaar says in an interview with Biznews, “placed a marker on me and my family as a form of intimidation.” Now, 15 years after the disbanding of the Scorpions, Pienaar has decided to fight back. He shares some details of the events in a recent article in National Security News and is planning to reveal more in an upcoming book scheduled for publication in August titled: “Mandela’s Untouchables – The Scorpions and the Fight for Justice in South Africa.” Pienaar alleges that Zuma has ‘Russian masters’ and that the uMkhonto weSizwe (ML) party is a proxy of the GRU, Russia’s Military Intelligence Service. He describes it as one of the most dangerous and predatory intelligence organisations in the world that “will undoubtedly try to interfere in the South African elections.” Pienaar also accuses President Cyril Ramaphosa of having done an “unlawful” deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the Russia Africa summit in St Petersburg in 2023 to keep Zuma out of prison. Regarding the potential reinstatement of the Scorpions, Pienaar remarked that it was possible. However, it would take great political will to fight organised crime in the country. The process should be started, he says, by giving Zuma his day in court and by sending him back to prison to complete his sentence for contempt of court after failing to appear before the Zondo Commission into corruption.