Mpumulanga businessman Jan Venter is facing accusations of swindling clients needing private investigation services, reports City Press.

Venter, who has previously accused former Deputy President David Mabuza of bribing and harassing him, allegedly lures potential clients by using photos of himself that he took with ANC veteran Mathews Phosa to prove his purported political connections and claim legitimacy for his private investigation work.

He also allegedly sends clients a screenshot of his cellphone call with President Cyril Ramaphosa.

This came to light after clients complained to Sky SA Crime owner, Johann van de Bank.

Sky SA Crime belongs to Van de Bank but Venter has allegedly been using a company with an almost similar name. Venter was a security company employee in Mbombela before he landed a job as Phosa’s butler in his Hazyview mansion.

In 2014, he made startling claims that he saw Phosa and his associate, Nick Elliot, concocting an intelligence report which claimed that former Deputy President, David Mabuza, who was Mpumalanga Premier at that time, was an apartheid spy.

Venter’s claim prodded Mabuza to sue Phosa for R10m – a trial which Phosa won, and the court said Venter ‘emerged in a very poor state during intensive cross-examination’ and ‘it also appeared that Venter is a self-confessed liar’.

Venter confirmed that he was doing private security work and said that those who complained expected immediate results.

‘I am overqualified for it because I went to SSA (State Security Agency) for training and had even spied on former President Jacob Zuma. I state clearly to my clients that no investigation is guaranteed to be successful as there are many cases that the police have not resolved,’ he said.

Venter added that his company was Sky SA Crime Investigations.

Full City Press report