National Police Commissioner General Bheki Cele will soon – possibly as early as Thursday –leave the service in disgrace.
Three police sources have confirmed to Independent Newspapers that Cele was informed of his imminent axing on Wednesday, but that the official announcement – which was supposed to have taken place on Wednesday – had been postponed at the eleventh hour.
The sources confirmed that Cele had been instructed to vacate his office and that his replacement was due to report for duty on July 1.
President Jacob Zuma may have delayed the announcement following fresh developments in the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday afternoon in which now-you-see-me-now-you-don’t crime intelligence boss, Lieutenant-General Richard Mdluli, was barred from performing any duties in the police.
An announcement of Cele’s dismissal on the same day would have come as a severe body blow to an already punch-drunk police service reeling under claims of political interference in internal police investigations, ongoing turf wars and allegations of a spillover into the police of party political manoeuvring in the run-up to the ANC’s elective conference in December.
Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said on Wednesday night: “All I can say is that the president will make known his decision when he is ready to do so.”
A board of inquiry appointed by Zuma to determine whether Cele was fit to hold office recommended last month that he be fired. It found that, in pushing for the police and public works departments to lease the overpriced buildings of businessman Roux Shabangu, Cele had acted “dishonestly” and “with an undeclared conflict of interest”.
“(T)he board is duty bound to recommend that the president … orders his removal from office. The evidence proved abundantly that there was a questionable relationship between (Cele) and Shabangu … and between Shabangu and the officials within the Department of Public Works, on the other hand, as well as between (Cele) and some members of the SAPS,” chairman Judge Jake Moloi concluded.
This followed similar findings by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela last year. Her investigation concluded that Cele’s involvement in the leasing scandal was “improper, unlawful” and amounted to “maladministration”, prompting widespread calls for the general’s head to roll. But Cele was suspended, pending the outcome of the board of inquiry.
Cele could not be reached for comment on Wednesday night. Eyewitness News reported on Thursday morning that Cele said he had not heard from Zuma, nor had he heard any rumours that he had been fired.
There has been mounting speculation in recent weeks that Zuma may replace Cele with advocate Nathi Nhleko, currently the director-general in the Department of Labour and an old colleague of Zuma’s.
However, Maharaj last week dismissed these rumours.
Two police sources confirmed on Wednesday night that Nhleko had already undergone a preliminary vetting process, but a third suggested that Zuma had had a last-minute change of heart and was now considering a woman for the position.
Acting police chief Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi is perceived in some quarters as being too independently minded to be given the job on a permanent basis. This view has gained currency after Mkhwanazi bucked the trend by moving against Mdluli. -
Political Bureau