Lt. genl. Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi (Photo: GCIS)
From the DA to the FF Plus to AfriForum, gen. Fannie Masemola’s provisional suspension as national police commissioner welcomed.
Dr. Johan Burger, a police expert and former policeman himself, is however “slightly disappointed” in pres. Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to suspend Masemola as the national police commissioner – even if it was done with Masemola’s consent.
And this is because, to date, Masemola has never been directly implicated in corruption or interference in the police, Burger explained to Maroela Media when asked.
“His only sin is that he apparently did not carefully comply with the prescriptions of the Public Financial Management Act.”
Burger also considered it important to point out that Lt. Gen. Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner, relied heavily on Masemola when he convened a media conference on 6 July last year and revealed his suspicions about direct interference of organized crime in the police.
He says Masemola’s suspension will now make Mkhwanazi’s task – to finally be able to prove his suspicions – more difficult.
Lt. Gen. Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, police commissioner in KwaZulu-Natal, during the much-discussed media conference. (Photo: Screenshot of the live broadcast)
Mkhwanazi himself testified before the parliamentary ad hoc committee in March this year that he only convened the media conference after Masemola provided him with a statement.
Mkhwanazi explained to the committee that the media conference took place immediately after he received a statement from Masemola.
The national commissioner did distance himself in this statement “from what was happening”.
“I kept saying: ‘General, these dossiers are gone. Did you authorize it? There are many things happening. Did you authorize it? He said no,'” the committee heard from Mkhwanazi in March.
Mkhwanazi then insisted that Masemola provide him with a statement – which Masemola then did.
It is only then that Mkhwanazi decided to call the media together.
“He (Masemola) said I could. But before that, Masemola had to help me clarify this issue (the dissolution of the special task force for political murders in KwaZulu-Natal) by means of a statement.
“And when I got that statement, I said, ‘Now I can move. Nobody can point fingers at me now.'”
Lt. genl. Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi (Photo: Phill Magakoe / AFP)
Masemola, in turn, told the ad hoc committee that he thought Mkhwanazi had gone slightly overboard with the media conference.
In his testimony before the committee in October last year, Masemola did corroborate Mkhwanazi’s allegations by admitting that crime cartels do have influence within the police service.
Masemola said in his testimony that there is some “infiltration of criminality in the police, and that certain internal and external groups are trying to manipulate or replace the commissioner”.
Masemola himself was never implicated here.
‘Important precedent set’
Ian Cameron, DA MP and chairman of the portfolio committee on the police, told Maroela Media on Thursday that Masemola’s suspension does now set an important precedent.
“In a country that experiences high levels of crime, South Africans must have full confidence that those entrusted with upholding the law are above suspicion. This decision sends a clear and unequivocal message: No one is above accountability.
“This decision sets an important precedent that must be applied consistently across the entire policing system and serve as a deterrent against maladministration and abuse of power.”
Cameron believes Masemola’s suspension is therefore a necessary step towards restoring credibility and stability in the South African Police Service (SAPD) “especially at a time when the public’s trust in the institution has been seriously tested”.
General Fannie Masemola testifies before the ad hoc committee. (Photo: Parliament/X)