JOHANNESBURG - Parliament’s Police Portfolio Committee is turning up the heat on senior officials in the South African Police Service (SAPS) implicated in an alleged corruption scandal.
The committee is pushing for Section 34 inquiries into the head of Police Crime Intelligence, Dumisani Khumalo, and six of his colleagues.
They’re accused of playing a role in fraudulent appointments within SAPS's powerful Crime Intelligence Unit.
READ | Crime Intelligence boss, 5 co-accused granted R10,000 bail
Their court appearance relates to the appointment of a Technical Support System Manager.
The Investigative Directorate Against Corruption alleges that the 30-year-old employee has no formal qualifications required for the SAPS position.
Committee Chairperson Ian Cameron says the law must take its course, but also determine accountability at the highest level.
"The rule of law needs to reign supreme... It comes down to the question whether people were appointed according to merit or whether it was a political appointment or not," he said.
The officials appeared in the Pretoria magistrate’s court on 27 June. All seven are facing charges of fraud and corruption.
Six of the accused, including Khumalo, were granted bail of R10,000 each.
A seventh accused, Philani Lushaba, faces a pending corruption case and has to reapply for bail under a Schedule 6 offence.
The others face a schedule 5 offence as they have no other cases.