Court documents have revealed what a Sunday Times report says is shaping up to be one of SA’s biggest spy scandals. Details of how a government official allegedly persuaded Welkom millionaire Johannes Cronje to fork out more than R15m for one of the world’s most sophisticated mobile spy gadgets are revealed in an affidavit.

The Verint Engage Gi2 Tactical Mobile Interception System, dubbed a ‘grabber’, was seized in a Hawks sting operation. On Friday an Mpumalanga farmer, Willie Lotter, and an official in the Department of Public Service and Administration, Joseph Pooe, appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on a string of charges related to illegally importing the ‘grabber’.

The case was postponed to next month and a trial date has not been set yet. The Sunday Times says that in his affidavit, Cronje – who has not been charged and is likely to be a state witness in the case – said ‘Pooe was introduced to me as a representative of . . . National Intelligence’. Pooe and Lotter told him they wanted to import the spy gadget to monitor crime syndicates trafficking in gold, cigarettes and rhino horn. A grabber can intercept 10 000 phone lines simultaneously within a 3km radius.

Because of its level of sophistication, importing a grabber requires the permission of the US and Russian intelligence agencies and an end-user certificate issued by the government similar to those needed for weapons imports. The Sunday Times says it has seen an end-user certificate dated 2 July 2013 signed by Pooe as head of ‘information security management’ at the Department of Public Service and Administration. He is listed as the buyer on behalf of the SA government. Pooe reportedly said he did not want to follow the normal procedure of importing the grabber through one of the security agencies as this would compromise the operation because crime syndicates had infiltrated the state agencies.

The Sunday Times report illustrates in ‘detail’ the cloak and dagger operation embarked upon to get the ‘grabber’ from Israel to SA. It is made by Israeli security company Verint. Pooe reportedly told the newspaper said the operation was authorised by the government and that he would reveal who had sanctioned it ‘at the right time’. State Security Agency spokesperson Brian Dube said he was not aware of Pooe ‘working for state security’. Hawks spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi declined to comment on details of the case.

‘This matter will be dealt with through the courts of law because it’s very sensitive,’ he said. ‘Commenting on anything now will jeopardise our case.’ ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said the ANC was not aware of an allegation that the device was illegally imported to serve the ANC. President Jacob Zuma’s office reportedly did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Full Sunday Times report (subscription needed)