Former spy boss and ambassador to Japan Thulani Dlomo remains a free man after KwaZulu-Natal police told him there were no formal charges linking him to 12 alleged instigators behind the looting around the country.

Shortly after leaving the Durban Central police station on Friday evening, Dlomo’s lawyer, Philani Shangase, told the media that no formal complaint had been laid against his client.

“There is no evidence that has been brought to them [police] at this stage of any wrongdoing as alleged in the newspapers. As a result they cannot charge him with anything. So he is a free man for now,” said Shangase.

Earlier SABC TV showed Shangase and Dlomo entering the police station. He feared for his life and that of his family after allegations that he may have been one of the masterminds behind the chaotic scenes that played out in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in the past two weeks.

When Dlomo, a known ally of former president Jacob Zuma, was filmed with Shangase entering the station, it was not clear whether an arrest warrant had been issued on not.

Dlomo said, “Having served as the DDG in counter intelligence during former president Jacob Zuma’s tenure should not be a stigma or a crime.

“We have currently in the new administration, ministers and deputy ministers who served during Jacob Zuma’s tenure. Now I get puzzled all the time when I become labelled as someone who is a top spy for former president Jacob Zuma. I find it humiliating, I find it very insulting.”

Police were not immediately available to comment on the matter.

Earlier, TimesLIVE reported that Dlomo challenged deputy state security minister Zizi Kodwa to prove he is one of 12 alleged instigators behind the unrest.

Dlomo, who has been out of the public eye for several years, emerged on Friday after media reports suggested that he was one of the individuals sought by law enforcement agencies in connection with the riots and looting.

He issued a statement denying any involvement in the widespread chaos.  

Dlomo also demanded an apology from News24 and Daily Maverick for allegedly publishing “information without any evidence and which is a blatant lie thus putting my family and myself at risk”.

Responding Kodwa told TimesLIVE: “I never said he is an instigator, I only said the claims that former SSA members were behind this, we do not take them lightly. I never at any point gave names. I am not sure why he thinks he can make such a statement, which I did not make.”

On Thursday acting minister in the presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said one person was in police custody and law enforcement was tracing 11 others who may have been behind the destabilisation of the state. 

TimesLIVE