Ramaphosa: SAPS inquiry established to affirm SA's commitment to the rule of law
Ramaphosa made the announcement in an address to the nation on Sunday night, a week after KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi made sweeping claims about infiltration, collusion, and political interference in the South African Police Service (SAPS).
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While several political parties are unimpressed by the decision because of a lack of consequences for those implicated by inquiries as well as the time and money involved, Ramaphosa said it's essential to maintain the momentum of the work done by several corruption-busting agencies, including the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) and the Asset Forfeiture Unit (AFU).
'In establishing this commission of inquiry, we are affirming our commitment to the rule of law, to transparency and accountability, and to building a South Africa in which all people are safe and secure.'
Ramaphosa has suspended Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu in the interim to facilitate the commission's work.
Wits law professor Firoz Cachalia will act in the position as from August, while Ramaphosa is still to announce an interim replacement who will act until Cachalia can take up the job as one of two outsiders the president is constitutionally allowed to appoint to his Cabinet.
'Once established, the commission shall consider prima facie evidence relating to the involvement of individuals currently employed within law enforcement or intelligence agencies.
"Where appropriate, the commission must make recommendations on the employment status of such officials, including whether they should be suspended pending the outcome of further investigations.'
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Eyewitness News
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JOHANNESBURG - Police deputy national commissioner for crime detection, Shadrack Sibiya, has urged South Africans to remain open-minded when observing all that is unfolding with the SAPS. Sibiya was asked to take a leave of absence on Tuesday afternoon after being implicated in a string of explosive allegations by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi two weeks ago. On Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa addressed the nation, announcing that Police Minister Senzo Mchunu would be placed on special leave after he was also implicated by Mkhwanazi. Mkhwanazi claims he uncovered a syndicate involving politicians and other influential figures in law enforcement and business who have been captured by a drug cartel in Gauteng. Speaking to EWN following the announcement of his leave, Sibiya made the following call to the public: "My only request is that South Africans be prepared to look at this thing in all fairness. If there are allegations, and they can be proven, I understand and accept, but if they cannot be proven, South Africans must also be prepared to open their eyes and see this thing for what it is."
Daily Maverick
2 hours ago
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Letter to Mahlamba Ndlopfu: This is ‘a matter of grave national security concern'
Ah, Chief Dwasaho! I am utterly gobsmacked. The torrent of breaking news keeps splattering our politicians in shades of scandal, casting them as nothing more than imigodoyi — 'useless dogs' — to borrow the loaded phrase our elder statesman, former president Thabo Mbeki, unleashed at the height of the State Capture saga and the grand theatre of Zumanomics. Rich Mashimbye, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute for Pan-African Thought and Conversation at the University of Johannesburg, decoded Mbeki's biting words in 2023. In essence, Dr Mashimbye argues that imigodoyi denotes ANC cadres as 'people who are essentially criminals and always act in ways intended to advance an agenda rather than for the greater good of society'. Let's rewind the tape to Super Sunday. 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Sure, the sight of those men (Special Task Force) kitted out in military fatigues (and not the cheap PEP ones) with balaclavas pulled tight and R5 rifles strapped across their chests would have sent shivers down the spine of even the most tender-loving politician. Clueless analyst Of course, it jolted even a clueless analyst or an apolitical onlooker like me into action as social media platforms went abuzz. I missed the live presser but had to remedy that situation quickly with a double-shot black Americano, two boiled eggs, and two slices of brown toast while glued to the recording on YouTube. The content screamed, in no uncertain terms, 'a matter of grave national security concern'. And let's talk about Mkhwanazi himself. The man's got the gift of the gab, his delivery slow, measured, but slicing through the nonsense like a panga through sugarcane. Honestly, who else rocks up to a press conference armed with an entire PowerPoint presentation? This guy did. Mkhwanazi laid down the law of evidence: 'Electronic communication of this arrested person, Vusimusi 'Cat' Matlala.' And he didn't stop there. 'This analysis reveals communication between the arrested Vusimusi Cat Matlala, Mr Brown Mogotsi, an associate of the minister of police, and the Minister of Police, Senzo Mchunu.' Then he delivered the final blow: 'My findings show certain politicians, law enforcement, SAPS, metro police, correctional services, prosecutors and the judiciary are controlled by drug cartels and businesspeople.' For the politically uninitiated, 'Cat' Matlala is the tender don of the Tembisa Hospital, where billions were looted, and the whistleblower Babita Deokaran was assassinated. Triggermen entered into a plea and sentencing agreement with the National Prosecuting Authority, a sure sign of the code of silence associated with the Underworld. Until recently, 'Cat' Matlala had infected the SAPS by offering health services — the audacity. According to a News24 Special Report, 'after securing a R360-million SAPS health services tender, despite zero qualifications, amid allegations of fraud, fronting and collusion, Matlala's tentacles extended to Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and former minister Bheki Cele'. Let me spell it out, Comrade Leadership: Babita Deokaran wasn't some anonymous paper-pusher. She was the Acting Chief Financial Officer in the Gauteng Department of Health, and the woman brave enough to pull the curtain back on nearly R1-billion in dodgy contracts funnelled through Tembisa Hospital — payments for everything from overpriced gloves to suspicious medical supplies. A hail of bullets And what was her reward? A hail of bullets outside her home in Winchester Hills, her blood seeping into the asphalt of our so-called democracy. The six hitmen who confessed are behind bars, but the big fish, the architects of this mafia-style hit, remain untouched, raising one screaming question: Who is protecting the real masterminds? I guess we all know who the masterminds are by now. The dominoes are falling, one by one, like rotten fruit off an overripe tree. But I digress. Not content with bullet points, Mkhwanazi rolled out a forensic timeline of events, peppered with WhatsApp receipts for extra spice. And here's the kicker: he didn't need to beg anyone to connect the dots. The dots lined themselves up and practically drew the picture for us. The performance of the political establishment since the missiles of Mkhwanazi's exposé flew from Durban to Brazil. Its shrapnel scattering all the way to Rio outside the BRICS+ conference has been nothing short of comical. Ministers, big shots, and the usual spin doctors have been tying themselves in knots trying to outrun the truth like an unmarked black SUV stuffed with menacing-looking Blue Light Bullies. Meanwhile, a flurry of gibberish words masquerading as media statements keeps flying thick and fast, even though you, my leader, called for 'restraint'. Yet restraint seems as scarce as an honest tenderpreneur these days. 'I don't know him — actually, I do — but he isn't my associate, just a comrade,' one Underworld operative mumbled to a gaggle of journalists, their eyes bloodshot and notepads sagging under the weight of scandal. Really now, what on Earth, for Peter's sake, is the difference, comrade — associate — friend, or partner in crime? Because to those of us out here, it's all starting to look like the same rotten stew. Another, cool as ice, admitted to crashing in the Cat's penthouse, yet swore mindlessly there was no 'business relationship'. So, tell us: What exactly is the relationship, then, between the accused and the former politician — platonic, sexual or something even more sinister? 'It wasn't me' All we've heard from the police top brass is: 'It wasn't me, wasn't me, of course it wasn't me.' It sounds like a national chorus of off-key Shaggy impersonators; they keep denying, deflecting, and ducking while the truth skulks in the shadows, smoking a Cuban cigar. I've said it a million times: your word, my leader, must mean something. Otherwise, 'we are on our own'. And believe me, Comrade Leadership, if the past few days have taught us anything, it is that it doesn't. The latest episode is a sequel to the spectacular fall from grace suffered by the late, corrupt police chief Jackie Selebi who belted out the immortal words that sealed his fate: 'He is my friend, finish and klaar.' He was talking about a civilian, mind you — a man already unmasked as none other than a drug lord. That's the calibre of explanations we're being served today: half-lies, twisted truths, and frantic denials all wrapped in the comedic circus of the politically damned. Meanwhile, the actors scramble for plausible deniability, leaving the rest of us to piece together the obvious: the rot runs deep, and the Cat's claws have scratched far more than just the surface. The pageantry of imigodoyi who infiltrated the ANC back in the days of exile and the underground and somehow slithered to the top post apartheid, is now playing out in full view for all of us to see. All along, we've been passengers, led like lambs to the slaughterhouse, believing we were on a luxury bus to freedom. But what freedom, really? Last week, I posed what I thought was an ominous question: 'How does one simply go to bed and wake up no longer part of the ANC, in any shape or form?' That was an awkward and misinformed question. The real question is: How do people, in good conscience, keep voting for Christmas (ANC) the way turkeys have been doing for over a century? Mkhwanazi has raised his hand; as far as I'm concerned, he is now the country's most critical national key point. Please do the right thing, my leader: instead of your judicial commission of inquiry, give us a panel of retired sleuths and senior counsels to investigate and prosecute, pronto. Meanwhile, Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya and the minister of police should be suspended with full pay and retain their security detail.
Mail & Guardian
3 hours ago
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