Author Jacques Pauw, who blew the lid on state capture with his book "The President's Keepers", says he is shocked that the recent Hawks raid on his private office occurred after Jacob Zuma resigned and Cyril Ramaphosa became president.
Pauw's office was raided by three officers – a colonel and two captains from the Hawks' crime against the state unit – in his office on Wednesday afternoon. They were reportedly looking for "secret state security files" they believed to be in Pauw's possession.
Speaking to HuffPost, Pauw confirmed that the warrant indicated the raid was authorised by the State Security Agency (SSA) director-general, Arthur Fraser — whom Pauw exposed in the book for looting millions from the state.
"In my book I write how Fraser headed a project at state security, while he was the deputy director-general of the State Security Agency. He was the head of a project that wasted half-a-billion rand in state money, in which there was massive fraud, corruption and wastage.
"I think it's very alarming. I don't know what's next..."
"Despite the fact that the inspector-general of intelligence brought out two devastating reports about this wastage, about the project that Fraser headed, he was still appointed by [former state security minister] David Mahlobo and Jacob Zuma as the new director-general of the State Security Agency.
"I write in my book about several reports that I have in my possession about the investigation into this project, and after I wrote the book I was still given two more reports by the inspector-general, and that's what I suspect they were looking for. But they are not going to find anything," he said.
Pauw said the raid on Wednesday evening was unprecedented since the start of South African democracy.
"I don't know when the last time was that the state did something like this. Certainly it is the first time since 1994. And it certainly happened very, very seldom, even during the apartheid years. I think it's very alarming. I don't know what's next..."
"I think there's a distinct possibility that in the near future I will be arrested."
The raid is a concerning indication of what Cyril Ramaphosa's approach to state capture is, Pauw said.
"Well I really didn't expect this to happen after Zuma. I didn't expect this to happen post-Cyril Ramaphosa. I didn't expect a raid after February 15, but it just shows you that while there has been political change, very little has happened in the top structures of the ANC – and the NPA, and the SSA.
"I think there's a distinct possibility that in the near future I will be arrested."
But he said he is prepared for being charged, and even going to jail.
"If they do plan to charge me, we are absolutely prepared. Arthur Fraser must however know that if we go to court, I am prepared to defend myself, and that I can absolutely assure everyone in South Africa that very, very ugly things are going to come out in court about him. I'm not scared of these people."