An ace up his sleeve?

Riveting indeed, but what has Selebi done wrong? Agliotti's testimony produces very little. Aside from giving Selebi huge amounts of cash, there is no evidence of what Selebi gave Agliotti in return. One can hardly claim telling Agliotti that the British were watching him when he travelled there was corruption or perverting the course of justice. And what the heck does it matter if they bought shoes for Mbeki? Is receiving money from a friend corruption? It seems some very sinister characters were keen to meet Selebi and used and paid Agliotti to introduce them. He mentions that these individuals had problems and thought Selebi could help, but were is the evidence that Selebi took steps to assist these unsavoury characters? There is a can of worms out there that someone wants opened and is using this trial to do it. The end result will be that all the rot that needs to be exposed will be, then the case will follow the same path as President Zuma's did, postponement after postponement, adjournment after adjourment for technical reasons and finally some perverted excuse to call the whole thing off.

It does not make sense to assume that Rautenbach will bring any new evidense - all this thing about charging Selebi by the scorpionslooks like fabricated evidence - Ncuka ,Pikoli and clan were only trying to divert attention and protect their unsavoury turf. Mac and Mo were very right about Ncuka - he looks very shrewd and cunning - dangerous and smooth - that is why his comrade Mcathey has been given a job abroad soon after the revelations in the JZ case.The master are still protecting their interest. it is chirlish to think there is anything untowrd in Selebi - perhaps showing the top secret files to a friend and being rewarded by a friend clandestine.

Although Selebi did not say so, he may also have implied that he had good reason to hang out with Agliotti and Kebble -- from them he could learn about the corruption of the prosecuting bosses"
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STEFAANS BRüMMER AND SAM SOLE,your theories are stupid at worse ill advised.Selebi is not that smart.He was just involved in criminal activities and corruption.

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"Selebi’s allegation against Pikoli was that his wife’s shares in Vulisango, a BEE company which obtained shares in Kebble-indebted miner Simmer & Jack, constituted an improper benefit"

This had nothing to do with Selebi's station as police commissioner.It all about Trade polices and minister responsible.
NOT A POLICE MATTER.SELEBI IS CLUTCHING AT STRAWS.

How much information and how many names will be exposed? There is too much at stake for too many powerful people - we will probably hear very little in the end - and little will change, the games will continue.

@Paul Young - patience -- the trial has only just begun. There are a string of witnesses that the state has called. They all have to give evidence and be cross examined by the defense. It is too early to speculate now. Let all the evidence be presented and evaluated on the merits of the charges brought against Selebi. The court will decide on the facts pertaining to Selebi's corruption charges.

All the other peripheral stuff may just be a smoke screen and in any event if they may warrant charges of their own against the perpetrators. But that is a seperate matter that will require a seperate trial.

Les, you are quite right. But my main concern is that Agliotti was supposed to be the star witness, and that has not materialised. The other star surprise witness, Billy Rautenbach, is a scoundrel who will easily be proved unreliable by the defense. The actual point I am trying to make is that the reason for this trial has nothing to do with Selebi, but is a means of exposing something or someone else, probably closely linked to the Kebble saga.

@Paul Young. If, as it is alleged, that Selebi was accepting payments in exchange for providing certain favours or services to the individuals identified in the court proceedings, then he has committed a crime that is punishable by law. In short, accepting bribes is corruption. That is the purpose of this case: to ascertain the truth. Naturally the state will have to prove this.

If there are charges to be brought against other individuals in respect of unlawful activities then that would require a separate trial to be tested on it's own merits.

If the witnesses are unreliable, or the evidence does not tally with the facts, then that part of the evidence will be disregarded. That is why there are many witnesses in this case. To get as much information as possible, to test the facts and decide whether Selebi is innocent or guilty. Of course the testimony of one individual is not necessary taken in isolation but all the evidence will be considered. If it cannot be proven that Selebi accepted cash payments from Agliotti then there is grounds for reasonable doubt. According to law the state must prove their case beyond reasonable doubt.

I agree with Paul Young that the state case, based on the testimony of its "start witness", is a weak one. But I'm not sure what the motive is to charge Selebi.

So far, to me this seems to be a classic case of what I'll call a discordant corrupt relationship....just as with the Shabir/JZ relationship was made to be. This is where a corruptor tries to corrupts a corruptee but he disguises it as friendship.

An example of this is when a boy befriends another so that he can get bed the latter's sister. The first boy buys his 'friend' gifts, spend time with him at home, etc obviously to know where the sister is, what she does, impress her and ultimately have her. If the receiver friend accepts it as genuine friendship does he deserve a punishment from the parents once they found his friend in bed with his sister? Should he be punished for pimping his sister? Perhaps he deserves a flak for bringing unscrupulous friends into the house and maybe sharing family secrets...but not for him believing his friend is genuine, accepting gifts from him and doing what friends do normally.

From the case so far, Selebi can only be punished for defeating the ends of justice by telling his friend that he's under surveillance in the UK. Nowhere in the case does Agliotti say, 'I paid Selebi so much money for this...and he gave me'. He simply charged people for knowing Selebi and used some of that money to buy him gifts.

It's not corruption to call your police friend if there has been a break in into your house, that's what people normally do, whether your friend is a constable or a commissioner, you'd normally call him and he'll help in whatever way friends help. You'll frown at your policeman neighbour if he doesn't wake up at night and help if you are in such trouble, it's normal.

If there is a substantial amount of rot, hopefully this case will weed it out. Perhaps it may even lead to the rot over the arms deal to become exposed.

Its clear here that Agliotti seems to be the corrupt gangster by charging people for use of his "friendship" with Selebi. After all his plea-bargain with the state depends on this and he will not be charged for it either. Agliotti is the slippery one here with nothing to lose.

Proving HOW crooked Selebi is, is not the point here.

This guy probably showed an outsider a confidential international report. He is crooked and must go to jail, just for that, if it is accepted by the court to be true.

The state is happy he did not plea, so that all other dirty washing can be thrown in front of the world. His buddies, they hoped for a plea.

As for all the other dirt dished up

continues.... it may just flush out a few other dirty rats.

All the "evidence" led so far is just that Agliotti was a clever conman, charging millions to thugs and gangster for acess to Selebi who only recived a fraction of the fee, R1.2 million. Case dismissed