President Zuma must tell us whether he has sacked Cele
According to reports this afternoon President Zuma has apparently sacked suspended National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele. The City Press has learned from "independent and well-placed" sources that President Zuma has acted on the recommendations of the Board of Inquiry and dismissed Cele as top cop (see City Press Online report).
The speed with which President Zuma has acted in this matter - mere weeks after receiving the Board's recommendations - is a welcome departure from his usual lacklustre response to addressing the serious issues plaguing the South African Police Service (SAPS).
It is after all President Zuma who took more than six months to act upon the Public Protector's findings into the conduct of Cele in relation to the R1.1 billion police lease scandal, only commissioning a board of inquiry in October last year.
While the decision to sack Cele cannot be faulted, we wish to point out yet again that the haste with which it has apparently been done should be seen in the light of the bold conduct by the Acting National Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Mkhwanazi has apparently fallen out of favour with President Zuma due to his growing and unexpected resistance to executive interference, especially in relation to the entire Mdluli saga. Mkhwanazi has reportedly stepped on the toes of one too many senior politicians, including the Minister of Police, Nathi Mthethwa.
With Mdluli's lock-out from the SAPS confirmed by the North Gauteng High Court this afternoon, the timing of the President's alleged decision to sack Cele and possibly lock out Mkhwanazi from the highest office in the police is suspicious. With Cele out of the way, Mkhwanazi might well be the next to go.
President Zuma must tell the police and the public whether he has indeed sacked Cele. The insistence of Presidential Spokesperson Mac Maharaj that he will do this "when the President is ready" is simply not good enough. The on-going uncertainty about the situation in the top brass of the SAPS undermines police morale, public confidence in the police and the fight against crime.
Statement issued by Dianne Kohler Barnard MP, DA Shadow Minister of Police, June 6 2012
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