The decision to move murder and fraud accused crime intelligence boss Lieutenant-General Richard Mdluli out of the division has been met with muted support and a heavy dose of scepticism.
Political analyst Eusebius McKaiser and security expert Johan Burger said the move would have no effect on flagging police morale, while police union Sapu said it needed more details before it could rejoice.
Burger, who is attached to the Institute of Security Studies, said he could not see how moving Mdluli, as opposed to firing or suspending him, would change the “dilemma facing the police”.
“Moving him from crime intelligence may remove concerns of his abusing state resources, but he faces serious charges, from murder to fraud and corruption.
“That intervention was stopped by political powers, as was explained by the acting police commissioner (Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi) in Parliament recently,” said Burger, adding that the National Prosecuting Authority’s process, headed by advocate Glynnis Breytenbach, had effectively been halted as well.
“The legal process was stopped so that he could be returned to his position as head of crime intelligence – in order to serve his political purpose. Moving him around in the police doesn’t make these allegations disappear,” Burger said.
The public would believe there was truth in the allegations against him until the rule of law took its course. “This will continue to cause dissent and division within the senior management of the police.”
Burger said whenever there were serious allegations against anybody – and more so against a member of the SAPS – that person should be suspended and the law should take its course. “And if he’s innocent, as he claims, then let him return. But in his case, the law has not been allowed to take place.”
Burger expressed concern about how the move would be managed, saying there were only a limited number of positions at lieutenant-general level. “I am disappointed in the way the minister handled the affair,” he said, adding that reports of President Jacob Zuma’s intervention had had disastrous consequences. “From what we know, the president has already interfered, if we are to believe what we are reading.
“The allegations against the president and the president’s involvement in protecting Mdluli make it doubtful the president will be able to intervene objectively,” he said.
Sapu general secretary Oscar Skommere said Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa had done well in removing Mdluli, but questions remained. “We would have loved to hear where he is to be placed. At this point we are just sitting in the dark,” he said.
Skommere said he expected the infighting between police generals would now subside. “In the police in general, the mood is obviously not very good. Members are demoralised. Within crime intelligence the same thing is happening behind closed doors.
“We saw correspondence that Mdluli is moving them around. As a union we are concerned there is a mess requiring politicians to intervene. This is why we want a judicial commission to look into the police in general,” he said.
He said there were complaints coming from union members based in crime intelligence, but because its business was carried out in secret, it was difficult for the union to establish what exactly was happening.
McKaiser said moving Mdluli sideways did not deal with the “poor motivation” of many police staff, attributed in large part to the “political bungling” around Mdluli.
“The move does not address the crisis of confidence within senior management,” McKaiser said.
Political Bureau