Cape police have searched the business premises of a man who is alleged to be central to an investigation into Arno Lamoer.
|||Cape Town - The business premises of a Goodwood businessman who is alleged to be central to a probe focusing on provincial police commissioner Arno Lamoer were searched on Thursday and items, including documents and computers, were seized.
Saliem Dawjee runs the business Towbars Cape.
It recently emerged that Crime Intelligence was investigating Lamoer for allegedly accepting a bribe from an alleged criminal.
Dawjee was then named in news articles as being the businessman from whom Lamoer allegedly accepted bribes.
National police commissioner General Riah Phiyega had been accused of tipping off Lamoer about the investigation and, in turn, accused Crime Intelligence of concocting a story and laying a charge against her to discredit her.
On Thursday, Dawjee’s legal representative, William Booth, who was at the Towbars Cape premises, confirmed officers had searched it.
He said items seized included hard drives, receipt books, financial registers and computers.
Booth said no one had been arrested, a docket had not been opened and no charges had been lodged against Dawjee.
He said Dawjee had not been informed of any investigation into his actions and it was not clear what the search was linked to.
Booth said he was meeting police on Tuesday and would try to have Dawjee’s seized items returned.
He said he then planned to meet police again to try to determine what further action they may take.
* On the Towbars Cape website, it said the business was family-owned and run. “Proprietor, Mr Saliem Dawjee has always had very close contact with his surrounding community and as such is deeply involved in various charities and community projects,” it said.
caryn.dolley@inl.co.za
Cape Times