Johannesburg - Major-General Tirhani Maswanganyi started his stint as Joburg central cluster commander about a year-and-a-half ago.
But in that short space of time he ruffled many police feathers. In 18 months, he suspended a number of police officers for alleged corruption.
Provincial spokesman Brigadier Neville Malila did not have the number of the officers suspended and their ranks on Thursday, but confirmed the suspensions had been “for corruption-related investigations”.
Maswanganyi was found dead on Tuesday. His body - with his hands and feet tied - had been dumped on a stretch of veld in Hammanskraal.
Two cellphones were taken - but his vehicle, his service pistol and his wallet were left behind.
Malila said the cause of Maswanganyi’s death was still unknown and no one had been arrested.
A source within the SAPS, who spoke to The Star on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said police on the West Rand know him very well too.
Before his Joburg stint, Maswanganyi had worked in Krugersdorp as the cluster commander.
He is said to have been transferred to Joburg to help with rampant crime and to clean up the force after his successes in Krugersdorp.
The source said Maswanganyi was a “no-nonsense man” and a hard task master, whose interest was helping people. He abhorred police officers who were corrupt and dabbled in crime.
“While he was the cluster commander in Krugersdorp, a suspect escaped from the Kagiso police station and the two officers in charge of the holding cells could not explain what had happened.
“He took their firearms and their (badges), which then made their uniform look like normal overalls, and put them in the cells.
“He said he did not understand how the escape could happen under their watch while they were the only ones with the keys and (while they had) guns and the handcuffs and knew the building better.
“(Maswanganyi) said it was not fair for complainants to see the perpetrators back in the streets.
“They would think that it was the same police that released the suspect and would tar all of them with the same brush.
“The officers were in the cells for two hours until a witness came forward. The (escapee) was caught after four hours. Now everyone knew what would happen if there were escapes,” the source said.
Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa put his duties in Parliament aside on Thursday and travelled to Gauteng to meet Maswanganyi’s family.
A small group of family members, colleagues and close friends gathered at the family home near Hammanskraal, where Mthethwa assured them that no stone would be left unturned in the investigation into the murder of the senior provincial police officer.
Mthethwa said he had come to see the family because Maswanganyi was a police officer who had dedicated himself to assuring that of South Africans could live in a safer environment.
Gauteng police commissioner Mzwandile Petros offered a R100 000 reward on Wednesday for any information leading to the arrest and conviction in the murder case.
A memorial service will be held on Monday at the Regina Mundi Catholic Church in Soweto.
Maswanganyi will be buried on Thursday. The venue for the funeral service is yet to be confirmed.
The Star