Durban - The head of the Hawks in KwaZulu-Natal is being investigated for alleged fraud.
Major-General Johan Booysen’s lawyer Carl van der Merwe confirmed that his client had been served with a “contemplated notice for suspension”.
Van der Merwe said that notice invited Booysen to reply to allegations that he had submitted a document fraudulently.
He said Booysen had until next week to give the reply.
“We are going to respond. They still have to investigate. It’s still in the preliminary stages.”
Van der Merwe said he did not want to go into the merits of the case.
Van der Merwe said the case in which his client has to respond was not related to the 2012 case in which Booysen was charged by the then acting national director of public prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba for racketeering. He was charged along with 28 other members of the former Cato Manor Organised Crime unit which he headed up.
Charges against Booysen were ultimately thrown out by Durban High Court Judge Trevor Gorven, who at the time described Jiba’s decision to charge Booysen as “arbitrary, (and) offend the principle of legality and, therefore, the rule of law and were unconstitutional”.
Gorven, in his judgement, agreed with Booysen’s assertion that Jiba lied about having certain statements before her when she decided to prosecute, and could therefore not have used them to make her decision.
Booysen had been accused of running a criminal enterprise consisting of members of the former Cato Manor Organised Crime Unit that he headed up.
Police spokesman Solomon Makgale said he could not immediately comment on the matter and would first make inquiries before commenting.
ANA