New Police Commissioner - President Zuma has appointed a career politician, not a career police officer
The Democratic Alliance (DA) does not endorse President Zuma's decision today to appoint KwaZulu-Natal Community Safety MEC Bheki Cele as the new National Police Commissioner. President Zuma has appointed a career politician, not a career police officer. We are greatly concerned that history is repeating itself with Mr. Cele's appointment. Just as Thabo Mbeki appointed a close associate of his from the ANC's political ranks to head up the Police Service in 1999, now, a decade later, President Zuma has done precisely the same thing.
It is essential that any National Commissioner embody the following qualities:
· Independence and impartiality in decision making
· A commitment to excellence
· The requisite skills set and experience
· A history of ethical conduct
Using these measures as a gauge, it is difficult to see how Mr. Cele would be an appropriate appointment:
1. Independence and impartiality in decision making:
Alarmingly, Cele has been accused of waving a firearm at IFP members, and accusing that same party of propagating illegal weapons at a time when political tension was high in KwaZulu-Natal. A close Zuma ally, Cele attacked Archbishop Tutu for his comments when charges against Zuma were dropped. He is also an active member of the ANC's NEC and a former member of MK.
The evidence suggests that Cele will not act independently in this post.
2. Track record:
On Mr. Cele's watch, deaths in police custody and as a result of police action in KwaZulu-Natal is the highest in the country - at 258 for 2008/2009, which is an increase of 47% from the previous year. KwaZulu-Natal is ranked sixth out of the nine provinces for the number of complaints against police members. The severity of the challenges facing the SAPS at present, and the importance of the national commissioner garnering the respect of the professional core of the Police Service, demands someone with a proven track record, and with professional policing experience, to fill this crucial post. Once again, the evidence suggests Mr. Cele simply does not fit the bill.
3. Skills set and experience:
Bheki Cele has no professional police experience. He is a career politician. He has chaired various committees, and has served on the transport and safety and security portfolios, but whereas we desperately needed a career police officer for this post, we instead got a career politician.
4. Ethical conduct:
Bheki Cele has been involved in Blue Lights incidents in the past, and has invoked racism to defend problematic behaviour. In May 2007, for instance, Mr. Cele accused a citizen of being a "self-made, arrogant, non-accountable individual who purports to be a good citizen and I will dare to argue that he is also a racist." He made this statement after his VIP units were filmed driving at excessive speeds of 160km/h - apparently because Mr. Cele was late for a meeting. It is also of grave concern that Mr. Cele has, in the past, urged police officers to "shoot to kill" - in violation of the principle that use of force must be in proportion to perceived threat.
The DA believes that Bheki Cele must begin by resigning from the ANC's National Executive Committee with immediate effect. This move would at least be a signal that Mr. Cele is willing to act as an independent police commissioner, accountable to ordinary South Africans plagued by criminals, and not just Luthuli House well protected from the real world.
All of this notwithstanding, Mr. Cele has the opportunity in the coming weeks and months to separate himself from his past, and demonstrate a commitment to the kind of principles that have not always been present in his previous conduct. The DA will work with the new Commissioner in whatever way we can to help to improve the South Africa's Police Service.
Statement issued by Dianne Kohler Barnard, MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of police, July 29 2009
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