JOHANNESBURG – Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia says he will meet with President Cyril Ramaphosa over the impending SAPS crisis.
This, after it emerged that top cop Fannie Masemola will face charges for alleged ties to Vusumuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala.
Police confirmed that Masemola had been served a summons to appear in court next month.
Cachalia said he had a preliminary discussion with Ramaphosa and Justice Minister Mmamoloko Kubayi on the sidelines of Wednesday’s Cabinet meeting.
The acting minister said after meeting with SAPS head of human resources, he will then present a memorandum to Ramaphosa setting out his views and options moving forward.
“But I must point out, the decisions concerning the appointment of national commissioners are to be taken by the president,” Cachalia said.
He said Masemola remains in office as national commissioner until Ramaphosa responds to the fact that he has now been criminally charged.
“General Masemola is still the national commissioner. I must make it clear that he has not been charged with corruption. He has been charged under procurement legislation.”
Without providing details, Cachalia said he has spoken to Masemola and will later on Thursday also meet with the SAPS board of commission and the police head of human resources, Lineo Nkuoa.
“Nkuoa will come back to me today on the steps that we need to take to fill any capacity gaps that might arise from the fact that so many senior officers have been charged criminally.”
Cachalia said an intervention team, which will include outside experts, would also be established to control the environment in relation to procurement.
“It’s clear that the problems in procurement don’t concern a single contract. We’ll set up an intervention team. I will be consulting with the auditor general and the minister in charge of treasury.
He said he was worried about the slew of SAPS officials being lined up in court.
“I have, like all of you, been watching with a mixture of incredulousness, despair and anger. From an ethical point of view, you can’t go any lower. There is no question that we face multiple crises in the police service; one expression of that is a lack of basic ethical commitments.”
He added that an urgent dialogue was needed to discuss the reset of SAPS and rebuilding public trust.