Jeremy Vearey speaks out after SAPS axing

Axed Western Cape detective head, Major-General Jeremy Vearey, has spoken about ’tribalism and ethnonationalism’ in the SAPS that was affecting top coloured officers from receiving certain posts. File picture: African News Agency/ANA

Axed Western Cape detective head, Major-General Jeremy Vearey, has spoken about ’tribalism and ethnonationalism’ in the SAPS that was affecting top coloured officers from receiving certain posts. File picture: African News Agency/ANA

Published Jun 4, 2021

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Cape Town - Axed Western Cape detective head, Major-General Jeremy Vearey, has spoken about “tribalism and ethnonationalism” in the SAPS that was affecting top coloured officers from receiving certain posts.

Vearey alleged this was the actions of minority national police generals and he had raised the issue on numerous occasions including with National Commissioner Khehla Sitole to no avail.

“I was the one when the national commissioner Sitole came to brief us about the ‘Simunye: We are One’ programme to raise that we are dealing with the problem of tribalism in the organisation. If we go to certain parts of the country there is a preference for a certain demographic. We are a national police service, we are not a Bantustan confederacy,” Vearey said during an interview with eNCA.

He further alleged that there was a deputy national commissioner who, when he and Lieutenant-General Peter Jacobs applied for Crime Intelligence posts, allegedly said: “they can’t have two coloureds at head office”. Vearey didn’t state the name of this senior police official.

Vearey and national police spokesperson Vish Naidoo did not respond to the Cape Times questions on Thursday, while Police Minister Bheki Cele’s spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, referred questions to SAPS.

The interview came a few days after Vearey was fired for misconduct in terms of the SAPS disciplinary regulations, following Facebook posts which were labelled as “bringing the SAPS into disrepute”.

Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union(Popcru) spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said In terms of the dispute resolution, they have referred the matter to the Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council.

“We will be making a dispute in terms of procedural and substantial fairness. Popcru supports Major-General Vearey against the current case of dismissal on the Contravention of the provisions of Regulation 5(4) (x) of the SAPS Discipline Regulations, 2016, bringing the name of the employer into disrepute.”

Activist Colin Arendse said it could not be coincidental that Vearey, a former Umkhonto We Sizwe operative and other senior cops including Zelda Holtzman, Anwa Dramat, Andre Lincoln were all on the receiving end of vicious punitive action by certain “renegade agents” operating as public servants for the state.

“I have long held the view that there is a silent coup taking place in our country and it appears as if the national government and Cele is being deliberately undermined by the actions of Sitole and some of those who serve under him.”

Arendse said it was ironic that Sitole, Francina Vuma and Johannes Riet, who have been at the forefront of the recent “vindictive actions on MK cadres in SAPS all served under the previous apartheid regime that was propped up by their Bantustan proxies”.

Lynn Abrahams from “Hands off the people’s Vearey, Jacobs, Lincoln” Facebook page said they were planning pickets outside various police stations next week.

“The picket is about all of our affected top cops and also the crisis within SAPS. It's about asking for an investigation into SAPS administration, governance and corruption. We will also be calling for the reinstatement of the affected persons.”

Community safety standing committee chairperson Reagan Allen also called for Cele not to be silent on these developments claiming it was deafening and further brought the SAPS brand into disrepute.

Cape Times

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