DIS in P 1.5m employees money theft accusation
Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday April 13, 2026 06:00
This publication has established that at least 137 employees were served with letters which sought to deduct at least P1 548 305.50 from their monthly salaries.
Documents filed as part of a court case in which at least 137 employees of the DIS are accusing their Director General (DG), Peter Magosi of contempt of court. This was after Magosi and the DIS paid just P7.4 Million of the P10.2 Million, which was to be paid as salaries/ allowances arrears to 106 employees who had become part of the case challenging the arrears before the Intelligence and Security Services Tribunal.
Following the payment, the employees were shocked that while not all their money was paid, Magosi wrote to them stating that the Directorate had erroneously paid the amounts to their personal accounts before Ngakaagae could get his fees.
The DIS through Magosi in October 2023 wrote to the employees a notice of intention to deduct legal fees in respect of Ngakaagae and Company.
The letters written to the individual employees state that their salary arrears were to be paid to the Ngakaagae & Company Trust Account, to enable their attorney to obtain his legal fees. “However, the money was erroneously paid into your personal account on the 5th September 2023,” they wrote.
According to the letter, subsequently, Ngakaagae and Company presented the breakdown of the outstanding legal fees to the Directorate, demanding payment of the same. “The Directorate has since settled the amount of P11 301.50 owed by you to Ngakaagae. This, therefore, serves to inform you that the amount of P11 301.50 will be deducted from your salary through monthly instalments to be decided in consultation with yourself, given your available take-home,” Magosi wrote.
In the event that an employee would retire before the outstanding balance is paid, it shall be recovered from their terminal benefits.
However, the shocked employees would respond to the letter in January 2024 through their attorney, Kago Mokotedi of Otto Itumeleng Law Chambers, seeking answers.
Mokotedi stated that their clients engaged and secured the services of Ngakaagae & Company to represent them in a matter before the Intelligence and Security Services Tribunal against the DIS.
“Clients duly paid to Ngakaagae & Company the legal fees charged and have not been presented by the aforesaid firm, any outstanding legal fees which must be paid by clients,” they wrote.
Mokotedi stated that his clients were aggrieved by the letter because the relationship between their clients and Ngakaagae & Company is private in nature and does not involve the Directorate in any manner. 'Ngakaagae & Company has never tendered any fee note and/or outstanding legal bill which clients have failed and/or refused to settle. As such, it is inappropriate for the Directorate, in its capacity as the employer, to purport to have paid clients' legal fees which are unknown to clients. Clients have never requested that the Directorate settle their outstanding legal bill with their private attorney. If there is any outstanding legal bill to be settled by our clients at Ngakaagae & Company, the aforesaid firm will furnish the same directly to our clients, as is the case with any attorney-client relationship. It cannot be appropriate for our clients to know their outstanding legal bill from the Directorate, and not from their attorney,” Mokotedi wrote.
After receiving the letter dated October 27, 2023, Mokotedi states that his clients advised them that they had tried, without success, to appoint and meet with Attorney Ngakaagae to appreciate the basis of the letter and to appreciate the reasons as to why their outstanding legal fees were sent to the Directorate instead of them as clients.
“We are instructed to inform your esteemed office that the intended deduction of P 11 301.50 for the legal fees from our client's salaries and/ or terminal benefits is not only unjustifiable but patently unlawful. In this respect, we humbly request the Directorate to obtain legal advise on the legality of the intended deduction,” Mokotedi stated.
Further, Mokotedi said they were instructed to demand that the DIS office withdraw the letter of October 27, 2023, not later than 14 days from the date of receipt of the letter. “We are available for engagement with the Directorate, at any time convenient to the Director General, with a view to amicably resolve this matter. We trust that you will revert at the earliest,” Mokotedi wrote.
Mmegi has established that the DIS never responded to the letter, and the deductions were never made as the case continues. Efforts to get a comment from Ngakaagae, who is now the Director of Public Prosecutions, proved futile by print time. He had not responded to the WhatsApp enquiry nor returned the phone call made to him.
In response, DIS Spokesperson, Edward Robert, indicated that, 'it will not be in the interest of neither the organisation nor the concerned members of staff for me to discuss employee/employer matters, whether alleged or real, with the media.'
He indicated that the Directorate has established avenues through which such matters are ventilated and addressed.