Durban - The Hawks have denied social media posts which sought to suggest that members of their national anti-corruption task team had resigned with immediate effect.
This comes after a Durban community activist, Des Moodley, claimed that the members of the unit had resigned with immediate effect. He claimed he was among those who resigned, but the Hawks said he was not affiliated to the Hawks in any way.
Moodley's post in a Facebook group was re-shared on a number of Facebook and WhatsApp community groups.
"I, together with our entire Hawks anti corruption task team national have resigned with immediate effect. Regards Des Moodley," the post read.
The Facebook post that went viral on social media
When asked why he and the team resigned, Moodley added a follow up post, claiming that corruption had overtaken "us".
In the post, Moodley said, "Guys, all I can say is that as you get too close to the sun, you get burnt. I am saddened that our Brigadier, who was one week away from being made a general, had to resign. He really deserved it after the arrests by our team.
"4 weeks ago we arrested generals, brigadiers and some retired general including Brig Naidoo, station commander of Point police station. Corruption has overtaken us. Thank you guys for your wonderful messages. I will share with the team. I pray that we have served you well. Right now, we need to be there for one another. Covid 19 above this. Right now I need to be there for my team. Stay safe and God bless."
Des Moodley responding to a question about the resignations
Hawks national spokesperson, Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi, said they had no knowledge of Moodley working for any of their units.
"The Hawks is distancing themselves from these claims. We do not know who Des Moodley is. There have been no resignations that we know of and the anti corruption teams are still working. As to whether or not we will pursue charges against Des Moodley, that will have to be a decision taken by our national head," Mulaudzi said.
In 2017, former eThekwini Municipality deputy mayor Fawzia Peer, slammed reports that Moodley worked for her as an advisor.
At the time, the city issued a statement saying that Peer had never given Moodley the title of advisor.
“Furthermore, no one has been appointed in deputy mayor Peer’s office under that title. As a committed councillor and community leader who is passionate about efficient and effective service delivery, the deputy mayor works with many people from the community to fight crime and social ills, and maintains a good working relationship with them,” the statement read.
Peer had expressed her disappointment at the allegations being made by Moodley and called them unfounded.