Cape Town - Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz has confirmed that provincial police commissioner Khombinkosi Jula is leaving at the end of the month to resume duties in KwaZulu-Natal.
“I will raise the matter at the NCOP today. We hope to get an indication from Minister Bheke Cele on Thursday on who the possible replacement will be.”
Fritz didn’t want to speculate on who will head the province’s police services.
“We want an open process and wants to give all the candidates a fair chance. We will give our input during the interviews with candidates,” he said.
A source said Peter Jacobs and Jeremy Veary were the frontrunners for the position, unless somebody from outside the province was appointed.
The relocation of Jula became a matter of interest after senior police officers and Solidarity accused him of creating divisions within the police.
The infighting among the top brass of the police in the province had largely been blamed for the inability to get to grips with the escalating crime in the province.
Matters came to a head when Anti Gang-Unit chief Andre Lincoln said officers purportedly appointed by Jula to the unit ordered a tracing operation of suspects without his authorisation.
Six AGU members were wounded during the failed operation carried out in Samora Machel informal settlement last month. Lincoln then in a letter requested that the members appointed by Jula be removed from the AGU.
Following this revelation, national police commissioner Khehla Sithole confirmed he held talks with Jula about taking up a position in KZN.
On Monday national police spokesperson Vishnu Naidoo said that only the minister will make an announcement in this regard.