Durban – Police are keeping mum on why they decided to reach a settlement with suspended KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss Major General Johan Booysen when he was due to retire in a few months.
Police spokeswoman Brigadier Sally de Beer said: "The SAPS will not discuss employer/employee matters or cases before the courts in the media space."
Booysen announced on his Facebook profile that he had left the police after almost 42 years of service.
Booysen, who has spent most of the past five years suspended from his post since his arrest on corruption and racketeering charges in 2012, said in a statement posted on his Facebook page, that he had reached a settlement with the police that he could not disclose.
“Yesterday the 28th February 2017 was my last day with the SAPS (HAWKS). SAPS has agreed to settle with me. The agreement stipulates that I may not make the detail of the settlement public... I am grateful for the opportunity that I had to serve my fellow countrymen for 42 years.(well two months short ..)”.
Booysen had been due to retire in July. He faced corruption and racketeering charges related to allegations that he ran a death squad while heading up the Cato Manor Serious and Violent Crimes Unit. Booysen has steadfastly denied the allegations.
Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi, spokesman for the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation, better known as the Hawks, referred all queries to national police spokeswoman Brigadier Sally De Beer.
De Beer said that acting National Police Commissioner, Lt Gen Khomotso Phahlane, advises that he holds Major General Johan Booysen in high regard.
"He has contributed immensely in his 42 years of service and we wish him well in his future endeavours," she quoted Phahlane as saying.
African News Agency