Cape Town – ’’Whatever our skirmish in the Labour Court brings today, we remain bound in blood and fighting spirit. Till the last drop of blood.’’
This was posted on Facebook on Wednesday by Western Cape deputy police commissioner Major-General Jeremy Vearey, who had acted as a staff representative of his close ally, former Crime Intelligence boss Peter Jacobs, at a disciplinary hearing last week. The disciplinary process had been halted by an urgent Labour Court application to be heard today.
Lieutenant-General Jacobs, who had been suspended for three months, returned to work last Thursday, but in what was believed to be an effective demotion, was moved to head the police's Inspectorate Division. Last Wednesday, the Labour Court matter launched by Jacobs relating to his suspension was meant to proceed, but was postponed because the police bosses were not prepared.
Jacobs and five other high-ranking officers had served the three-month suspension after being charged with misconduct over the alleged unlawful use of a secret slush fund to bankroll Covid-19 personal protective equipment amounting to R1.5 million. Reports suggest Jacobs was the victim of an alleged purge for claiming there was evidence suggesting police officers, including Crime Intelligence colleagues, had looted the Secret Service account.
On their return, Jacobs and the officers faced a hasty, controversial disciplinary process, which the Labour Court will rule on today. This centres on the presiding officer and his administrative assistants allegedly not having the necessary security clearance to access certain documents. Without the documents, they cannot conduct the disciplinary hearing.
It is the second time Jacobs has approached a court relating to his suspension – he previously approached the Pretoria High Court to overturn it, but was unsuccessful.
Jacobs had written to Police Minister Bheki Cele about the way the disciplinary hearing was being conducted and highlighted the alleged transgressions.
It is not the first time Jacobs and Vearey have taken a stand against the police’s top brass in the Labour Court.
In June 2016, Vearey was suddenly transferred while heading Crime Intelligence in the Western Cape. He and Jacobs had been investigating how firearms were being smuggled from police officers to gangsters, which effectively derailed the probe.
Both Jacobs and Vearey had approached the Labour Court to have their transfers set aside and succeeded in August 2017. They were promoted in February 2018 – Jacobs to national Crime Intelligence head and Vearey to Western Cape detective head — after Cyril Ramaphosa became president.
Meanwhile, Vearey faces an internal misconduct probe over social media posts, allegedly published on February 16, which "disrespect" the authority of national police commissioner General Khehla Sitole, News24 reported.
A notice of the investigation, which had been compiled by Sitole on March 8, read: "You allegedly brought the name of the employer into disrepute by posting images and messages, and causing same to be circulated through social media... (The posts) were intended to degrade the leadership of the South African Police Service and/or disrespect the authority of the national commissioner."
In another development, the DA has called for Ramaphosa to remove both Sitole and Cele in the wake of the latter requesting the president to look into Sitole’s fitness to hold office.
This followed a ruling by the Pretoria High Court last week to dismiss Sitole’s application for leave to appeal a decision of the same court that it had handed down in January.
The court had found that Sitole and his two deputies breached their duties by not providing and declassifying documents for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate to investigate allegations of fraud and corruption.
IOL