Ramaphosa's emails hacked by SAPS crime intelligence

Affidavit to Zondo commission sheds light on mystery of whodunnit

- By Setumo Stone

The SAPS' crime intelligence (CI) division has been fingered as the culprits who hacked President Cyril Ramaphosa's emails while he was serving as deputy president.

The unit was fingered in an affidavit deposed to by police whistleblower Brig Tiyani Lincoln Hlungwani, who painted a disturbing picture of the misuse of state resources for political espionage.

The hacking system allegedly used, referred to as Ultra Profiler, was acquired by the police as a replacement for Ripjar software. The Ultra Profiler is described as having capabilities to intercept and read people's emails and SMS messages.

Hlungwani, former financial and administrative service section head in the SAPS crime intelligence division's secret services account, alleged that the hacking was part of a broader pattern of corruption and abuse within crime intelligence. Although it was widely reported that Ramaphosa's emails were hacked, the identity of those who carried out the unlawful operation remained a mystery.

“I know for a fact that the current president of the republic's emails were hacked while he was still deputy president... by Crime Intelligence,” Hlungwani states in his affidavit, which he deposed to in a bid to use it at the Zondo commission of inquiry but did not see the light of day.

In the run up to the ANC's 2017 national conference, emails from Ramaphosa's private Gmail accounts, were leaked, suggesting that he was having multiple extramarital affairs with women young enough to be his children, despite being married. Ramaphosa, then deputy president of the country and the party, was campaigning to become the head of the governing party.

In the affidavit, which we have seen, Hlungwani refrains from naming the individuals involved but insists the operation was real and deliberate.