A conversation that took place in a parking lot between suspended national police commissioner General Bheki Cele and one of his deputies might seal his fate in the inquiry into his fitness to hold office.
As the hearing wrapped up its proceedings on Tuesday, it became clear that the board of inquiry would have to choose which version to believe about what actually happened in that parking lot; that of Cele or his former deputy, Lieutenant-General Hamilton Hlela.
Throughout the hearing Hlela has insisted that Cele told him he would receive a phone call from somebody who had a building to lease for the police’s headquarters in Pretoria.
Hlela claimed that he received a phone call from controversial property mogul Roux Shabangu on the same day, who asked him whether Cele had spoken to him about the building.
Cele has denied this, saying he didn’t give such an instruction to Hlela, with his defence attorneys insisting that it was Hlela who pursued the leases outside the normal procurement channels.
The evidence team has centred its argument on the fact that Cele is dishonest, was acting with a conflict of interest and identified the buildings precisely around that conversation, which occurred after an SAPS event in Boksburg.
They have also insisted that all his actions in the matter, including the signing of documents confirming the availability of funds for the leases, were motivated by his “unexplained relationship” with Shabangu.
This relationship, they argued, was proved by the fact that Shabangu called Hlela to discuss the matter just as Cele had apparently said he would.
As the inquiry went through its last day on Tuesday, Cele sat quietly listening to both sides arguing their case but was in his usual bubbly mood during breaks in proceedings.
It was unclear when the board of inquiry, appointed by President Jacob Zuma last year, would release a report with recommendations on whether he should continue in his job or not.
The board is looking into, among other things, whether Cele violated the Public Finance Management Act and Treasury regulations for his role in the procurement of police headquarters in Pretoria and Durban.
The leases for either building came under scrutiny after it was revealed that they were both awarded without following proper procurement procedures.
Public Protector Thuli Madonsela was also critical in her report about the leases, slamming Cele and former public works minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde for their respective roles in the saga.
Defence lawyer Vincent Maleka told the board that Cele’s removal would be far-reaching as he had been good at his job as far as combating crime was concerned.
Maleka also laid the blame for the leases debacle solely at Hlela’s door and questioned the reliability of his evidence to the board.
The evidence team on Tuesday repeated its calls that Cele must be removed from office as he had been dishonest and further insisted that he knew Shabangu before the contracts were awarded.
For now Cele’s future hangs in the balance as the board is expected to make recommendations to Zuma about whether or not he is fit to keep his job.
Pretoria News