aware was occurring. The Inspector-General of Intelligence Zolile Ngcakani was asked to investigate the allegations by Kasrils as to whether the operation had taken place and whether it was legal, which took three weeks to investigate, and he announced that it was unlawful and illegal. The other two suspended NIA officials were Gibson Njenje and Funokwakhe Madlala. It appeared that Macozoma become entangled during surveillance of another person in an authorized operation. On 6 November 2005, Gibson Njenje, head of operations of the NIA, who had been suspended because of his illegal surveillance of Saki Macozoma, resigned though he was not involved in the false e-mail issue being investigated by the Inspector General of Intelligence. With the withdrawal of his legal action against Ronnie Kasrils and the later lifting of his suspension, Njenje had resigned with his pension intact and a settlement package included. Njenje would be back with the NIA in four years as its director. Later in November 2005, Masetlha challenged his dismissal in the Pretoria High Court alleging that Kasrils did not have the right to suspend him while the state alleged that President Mbeki had instructed the latter to suspend him and therefore was legal. On 22 March 2006, President Mbeki announced that suspended NIA director Masetlha's services had been terminated after a breakdown of trust and that trust could not be repaired. His remaining contract would be paid and criminal charges could still be pending. The following day, Inspector General Zolile Ngcakani released details of his investigation of the reasons leading to Masetlha's dismissal. Project Avani initially involved no targeting of individuals but was to evaluate potential threats occurring from the succession battle for the Presidency as well as any foreign interference in it, Zuma's corruption trial, problems from poor service delivery in the townships and lastly the security and stability in the country. Intelligence Minister Ronnie Kasrils was not aware of the project which appeared legitimate though he should have been informed to provide executive oversight because of the sensitivity of the research. Ngcakani alleged that the project had been highjacked by Masetlha which involved the telephonic interception of conversations of senior ANC officials, the opposition, businessmen and civil servants as well as surveillance of some people. He alleged there appeared to be an authorization from Masetlha to fabricate fake intercepted emails externally and which showed divisions in the ANC's succession battle, and these