National police commissioner Bheki Cele should hang up his boots or be fired by President Jacob Zuma, and the head of Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde should also roll.
That was the call from opposition parties on Tuesday to public protector Thuli Madonsela’s finding that Cele was guilty of improper conduct and maladministration when the police authorised a R500-million lease for the new SAPS headquarters in Pretoria.
Mahlangu-Nkabinde sealed the deal with businessman Roux Shabangu - a friend of Zuma’s - after it was shelved by her predecessor Geoff Doidge in the wake of probes launched by Madonsela and the Special Investigating Unit.
Briefing media in Pretoria, Madonsela first referred to “the accounting officer” of the SAPS as being guilty of improper conduct.
Quizzed, Madonsela said Cele as head of the police was the accounting officer.
She found that the accounting officer of the Public Works Department was also guilty of improper conduct and maladministration.
Madonsela found the lease between the Public Works Department and Shabangu’s Roux Property Fund was invalid.
In her report, titled “Against the Rules”, she asked for a national Treasury review to establish what steps could be taken to terminate the lease.
She said that, although Cele did not sign the actual lease, he did sign a memorandum dated May 10, 2010 which authorised funding for the lease, which was ultimately signed by the Public Works Department.
Madonsela said Cele’s conduct breached the constitution, the Public Finance Management Act, Treasury regulations and supply chain management rules and policies.
Cele was required by his position to “ensure that goods and services are procured in accordance with a system that is fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective”.
“This conduct was improper, unlawful and amounted to maladministration,” she said.
She did not find evidence of “an improper relationship” between the Roux Property Fund and the SAPS. There was also no evidence that Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa was involved in the deal.
Madonsela said a violation of public administration laws was not necessarily a crime.
She still had to finalise her report on a building that police wanted to lease in Durban, and expected this report to be finalised in the next month.
Many of the people involved in the Pretoria deal were also involved in the Durban one.
“One of the things we are still trying to ascertain is how did Mr Shabangu get involved with SAPS,” she said. She hoped this would be clearer when the investigation into the Durban deal was completed.
In her report, she said the decision of the Public Works Department to continue with the deal despite legal opinion advising against it amounted to maladministration.
She also recommended that the cabinet, at its first meeting, demand an explanation from Mahlangu-Nkabinde as to why she decided to continue with the lease despite legal opinion to the contrary.
During the five-month investigation, police officers, Public Works officials and Roux Shabangu were interviewed.
The investigation was conducted with the assistance of the Special Investigating Unit, led by Willie Hofmeyr.
DA MP Dianne Kohler Barnard said Cele’s position was no longer tenable in the light of Madonsela’s findings.
“We have already seen the indignity caused to our justice system by a police commissioner who disobeys the law,” she said, in a reference to the country’s former top policeman, Jackie Selebi, who is appealing against his conviction and sentence for corruption.
“If commissioner Cele refuses to leave, then it is now for President Zuma to turn his words into action,” Kohler Barnard said.
“South Africa cannot afford another Selebi.”
Freedom Front Plus MP Pieter Groenewald said it was clear from the public protector’s report that tender procedures had not been followed correctly.
Groenewald said that the law had been breached and that there was no need to rent the Sanlam Middestad Building for R500 million over a period of 10 years.
“It appears as if Cele wants to follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Jackie Selebi,” Groenewald said.
Cope lauded Madonsela for “sterling work” which “instils confidence in our democracy”.
The party called on Zuma for swift and decisive action “by immediately suspending all those implicated in improper conduct - particularly the national police commissioner”.
This would confirm his “often-stated commitment” to fighting corruption and would demonstrate his confidence in the Office of the Public Protector, a statement said.
The conduct of SAPS members, especially their national leadership, “must be spotless and … above reproach”.
“The president must send a clear message that no one is above the law …
“He must call for the immediate cancellation of the contract and investigate the circumstances that led the minister of public works … to sign the deal amidst the suspicions.” - Cape Times