'Moe, the spy'

Should Moe Shaik get the nod as the country's top spook, his appointment will be part of a pattern of handpicked allies from KwaZulu-Natal who manage President Jacob Zuma's most sensitive security jobs.

These securocrats are largely Zulu-speaking and have close ties to the president. Moe Shaik is a personal friend of Zuma and a former comrade in the ANC's intelligence wing.

Seen as clever, shrewd and manipulative, Moe is described as someone who gets in an opponent's face - good qualities for a spy.

His critics describe him as arrogant.

Soon he could be running the country's state security apparatus.

Moe, real name Riaz, refused to speak to the Sunday Tribune about his rumoured appointment.

"I really don't know where it comes from; no one has talked to me about it. I will therefore reserve my comment," he said.

But those in the know say he expects to get the job.

Moe is not generally known for reticence and keeping a low profile. Part of a well-known "struggle" family, he shares the media spotlight with brothers Younis, Shamin (Chippy) and the infamous Schabir.

The brothers rallied around Schabir, a former financial adviser to Zuma, who was found guilty of soliciting a bribe on Zuma's behalf and went to jail.

He was paroled earlier this year on medical grounds after serving a fraction of his sentence.

Moe acted as the family's spokesman, strongly defending his brother's conduct.

In the early 2000s Moe served as democratic South Africa's ambassador to Algeria.

While ambassador to the north African country, he is believed to have struck deals with that country about the prospect of buying arms from South Africa.

But he really came under the media spotlight in 2003 when he and former transport minister Mac Maharaj openly accused the then director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka of being an apartheid spy.

At the time Ngcuka was overseeing fraud and corruption investigations into Schabir Shaik and Zuma.

Both Moe and Maharaj were prime drivers of Operation Vula, a clandestine ANC operation which sought to deliver classified information as well as smuggle weapons into the country in the run-up to the country's first democratic elections in 1994.

His recruitment into intelligence work started in 1980 when Moe and Younis both attended the University of Durban-Westville, where they were reportedly influenced politically by the likes of Pravin Gordan of the Natal Indian Congress.

Gordan is now minister of finance. Moe qualified as a optometrist.

He first ingratiated himself with ANC covert operations in 1981 when he sneaked into Swaziland to make contact with the banned party's underground movement.

It proved to be a turning point for Moe and the Shaik family.

He quickly recruited Younis and they both set up a new ANC intelligence network.

The recruitment expanded as the Shaiks enlisted more people.

In 1985 Moe and Younis were detained by the Security Police and in later years Moe tearfully told of how he had been tortured.

Following the dismal failure of the initial project, Moe embarked on one of the most famous and clandestine ANC projects in 1988. It was code-named "Vula", and this time it was Chippy's turn to take the big stage.

The brother infiltrated various apartheid government defence projects and passed the critical information to the ANC.

Chippy's wife, Zerena, apparently worked as a personnel clerk.

When the ANC was unbanned, Moe landed various security roles within the ruling party.

Favour

His brother Schabir steered the economic interests of the Shaiks and was soon rubbing shoulders with cabinet ministers and foreign corporate executives, keen to do business with the ANC.

Out of favour during the presidency of Thabo Mbeki, Moe was often asked by the media to interpret the strategies of the Zuma camp in the run-up to the ANC's 52nd national conference in Polokwane, where Mbeki was ousted by Zuma as the party's leader.

On several occasions he has angered party and alliance leaders by making comments about issues ahead of the ANC's own attempts to stage-manage events.

This year, ahead of the general election, he predicted charges against Zuma would be withdrawn, earning a rebuke from the ANC Youth League and from ANC stalwart Lindiwe Sisulu, who was liaising with prosecutors to get Zuma off the hook.

In hindsight, it is thought he may have had a role in gaining access to tape recordings made by the NIA, that showed Ngcuka, now a private citizen, was still playing a role in the prosecution of Zuma.

This evidence led to the fraud and corruption charges against Zuma being dropped and smoothed his path to becoming president.

During the Polokwane battle, he surprised many by predicting Reserve Bank Governor Tito Mboweni's demise in the Zuma administration and the survival of then finance minister Trevor Manuel, owing to the latter's willingness to go along with the new policy direction of the ANC and its alliance partners.

Moe's possible appointment to the top NIA job has drawn a negative reaction from the Democratic Alliance, which asks if he can distinguish between being a senior civil servant acting on behalf of the country and being an ANC functionary serving the interests of the Zuma faction.

The DA's Theo Coetzee said: "Moe Shaik is deeply involved in faction fights within the ruling party, and we must therefore assume that his appointment will further politicise the NIA."

Zuma, a former ANC spymaster, would know that in appointing Moe he would have an ally.

This could be useful in the political battles that lie ahead.