EFF notes the appointment of General Sehlahle Fannie Masemola as New Commissioner of Police

1 April 2022

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) notes the appointment of General Sehlahle Fannie Masemola as the new Commissioner of the South African Police Services (SAPS), amid a general turmoil in a unit that is meant to fight crime in South Africa.

General Masemola has a long history of security in South Africa, dating back to the dawn of our democracy in 1994. He was part and parcel of the ushering of peace in politically charged sectors of our society, namely Kwa-Zulu Natal after the democratic transition.

The unique character of National Elections in South Africa, which are ordinarily smooth and without incidents of violence in our country can be credited to his role as a pragmatic, stern, and a fair agent of the law, and who prioritizes security above unnecessary displays of force.

The EFF has long noted that South Africa has become a haven for criminals to do as they please, with disturbing levels of Gender-Based Violence, a murder rate which is spiralling out of control, and the rise of public assassinations across all spheres of society. General Masemola, as someone who has been lauded for reducing the rate of cash-in-transit heists in the year 2016, the EFF expects Commissioner Masemola to deal with this spate of violent crime decisively.

Commissioner Masemola is confronted with a great task, one which will require him to ignore the self-obsessed meddling of Minister of Police Bheki Cele, who will undoubtedly seek to impose his will on the Commissioner and undermine his administrative authority.

As such, the EFF .1Is on the newly appointed Commissioner to fiercely resist the disruptive influence of Bheki Cele and focus on the task at hand, which is drasti.11y reducing crime and ensuring perpetrators fear the arm of the law in South Afri.. It must be under his te., that the gang-wars in the Cape Flats in the Western Cape, must be put to an end, and innocent lives are protected frorn being recruited into gangsterism and drug abuse.

Under Commissioner Masemola, we .11 for the women and children of South Afri. to find comfort and justice at our Poli. Stations, and not be re-traurnatised, ridiculed and abused further.

The factionalism and criminality within SAPS must also be rooted out, and this includes the participation of police in .sh-in-transit heists, as well as the smuggling of arrns from within the police for. to criminals themselves.

The EFF is hopeful that this will be a new chapter in the fight to combat criminal activities in South Africa, and that our streets will no longer be places of crippling fear and injustice.

Issued by EFF, 1 April 2022