Pretoria - In response to the Sunday Times inaccurate reporting about the promotions of certain senior officers, the top management of the South African Police Service feels it imperative to put this matter in proper perspective (see here). This is despite the fact that media statements were issued for most of these appointments shortly after they were made.
On 26 August 2010 it was announced that two Deputy National Commissioners, Lieutenant General Christina Mgwenya and an Executive Legal Officer, Lieutenant General J Molefe were appointed in the office of the National Commissioner with effect from 1 September 2010. They were appointed as Chief Operations Officer and as Executive Legal Officer respectively.
Major General BC Mgwenya had served in the former Lebowa Police since 1986-07-07 and also formed part of the amalgamation with the South African Police Service during 1995. She served in the Ministry of Safety and Security where she was appointed as Chief of Staff prior to her redeployment to the South African Police Service in 2003. She also served as the Head, Employee Relations and Life Cycle Management within the Division Personnel Services where she successfully fulfilled her responsibilities.
Major General Mgwenya's qualifications i.e. a diploma in Police Administration, B A Honours in Police Science and currently studying toward a Masters in Public Administration, extensive knowledge of the organisation, her organisational skills and her interest and participation in various committees at Head Office level has proven her to be extremely qualified to fill the post of Chief Operations Officer in the office of the National Commissioner at the level of Lieutenant General serving as a Deputy National Commissioner.
Major General Julius Molefe is an admitted Advocate of the Supreme Court of South Africa and practised law as a member of the Witwatersrand Society of Advocates. He is a seasoned and experienced lawyer with the background in Criminal, Civil, Labour and Business law. He holds degrees in Bachelor of Arts (University of Fort Hare) and Bachelor of Laws (LLB) University of Natal, Durban. He has qualified himself with a Diploma in Public Administration which he obtained at Damelin, and is currently enrolled for a final year Masters in Public Administration (MPA) with the University of Pretoria.
Further he has completed two Executive Development Programmes with the University of Pretoria and the African Institute of Mentoring, respectively. He has a total of thirty (30) years of involvement with legal work and over 15 years in management. He was appointed in the South African Police Service during 1998. He served in the Legal Services environment and was appointed to function in capacity as a Major General on 2003-10-01. He successfully served the organisation as the Head: Contracts and Agreements at Head Office level. His involvement in the senior management echelon found him to be more than prepared to accomplish and set new standards as Executive Legal Officer in the office of the National Commissioner at the level of Lieutenant General.
In January this year the appointment of two new Deputy National Commissioners, namely Lieutenant General Leah Mofomme as the Deputy National Commissioner : Physical Resources Management and Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya as the Deputy National Commissioner : Crime Detection were announced. Their appointments became effective on 1 February 2011.
Lieutenant General Mofomme has been a senior manager in the SAPS for the past decade and she holds a BA Social Science, Masters of Public Administration and a PHD in Philosophy. Mofomme has had experience both at ground level - having served as the Station Commander of both Rietgat and Sunnyside Police Stations - and at managerial level, having been inter alia the Area Commissioner of Molopo in the North West and the Head of Support Services in the Supply Chain Management Division (now known as Physical Resources Management).
Lieutenant General Lebeya is 49 years of age, has a long history in the detective service of the SAPS and holds a B Iuris, an LLB and a Master of Laws. He has also been admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of South Africa. General Lebeya has been involved in the detective side of policing since 1986 and for several years specialized in fraud and commercial crimes, both as an investigator and as a manager.
Between 2000 and 2004 Lieut Genl Lebeya was the Provincial Head of the Detective Service in Gauteng and between 2004 and 2009 he was the Head of Organised Crime investigations at Head Office. In 2009 he was involved in priority crime investigation supervision at the Hawks and was appointed the Divisional Commissioner of that elite police unit during 2010.
In regards to the appointment of Mjabuliswa Ngcobo to the post of Head of Detectives in KwaZulu-Natal from the level of Brigadier to Major General with effect from 1 January 2011. Ngcobo has at least 28 years of service. He holds a Degree in Police Science and a Honours Degree in Police Science.
Among other positions he has been a detective since 1984, he has served in management positions as Branch Commander in 1987 at the level of Colonel, as the Area Head of detectives in the Umfolozi Area in 1988 (also as a Colonel), he was then promoted to Brigadier (then Director) as Area Head of the Durban South Area in 2000 and now as the Provincial Head of Detective Services, KZN.
The vacant post of Provincial Head, Detective Service, KwaZulu-Natal was advertised both internally within the South African Police Service on 30 July 2010 and externally in the National Media on 1 August 2010. The post became vacant due to the retirement of the previous incumbent, Major General PT Brown on 30 September 2010. Subsequent to the advertisement a selection panel was established to conduct the prescribed selection process.
The recommendations of the said panel was presented to the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service. The National Commissioner declared that he has an interest of a private nature in one of the applicants and had recused himself from the appointment process.
The matter was referred to the Deputy National Commissioners for consideration and finalisation in terms of the Delegation of Authority of the SAPS. On recommendation of the Deputy National Commissioners the appointment of Major General MC Ngcobo was approved by Deputy National Commissioner LCA Pruis on 23 December 2010.
Major General Ngcobo is not the only Provincial Head of Detective Services at the level of Major General. There are also Provincial Heads of Detective Service at the level of Major General in the Western Cape, Gauteng and Eastern Cape. The existing structures for Major Generals and the new structure will only be implemented as from 1 April 2011 based on the outcome of the "job evaluation" process which might confirm the current level of the post. The process of filling this post in KwaZulu commenced before new structure was approved as the process commenced on 30 July 2010 because of the critical nature of the post. Ngcobo had complied with the inherent requirements of the post.
Lieutenant General Mbekela was appointed as the Divisional Commissioner, Human Resource Development with effect from 1 January 2011. She has served in the capacity as the Head, Education, Training and Systems Development, Skills Development and Quality Management in the Division Human Resource Development.
Since her appointment in the Senior Management Service of the South African Police Service in 2003 she held the positions of Section Head, Skills Development and Quality Management at the Division: Human Resource Development; Acting Section Head, Policy Standards at the Division, Human Resource: Development; Acting Head: ETD Systems, Skills Development and Quality Management, Division Human Resource Development (Acting on a Major General level) and Head: Education, Training and Systems Development, Skills Development and Quality Management at the Division Human Resource Development (Major General). Mbekela holds the qualifications of a Bachelor of Science Degree, BSC Honors, Bachelor of Education and a Masters in Education. Her overall performance in her current and previous portfolios further qualifies her unequivocally for appointment to the post.
Nonkululeko Mbatha was appointed to level of Director (equivalent to the now Brigadier) in 2007 while she was at the dept. of Transport in 2007. She came over to the police on an interdepartmental transfer in 2009. As a result of her qualification and experience she was appointed to the Assistant Commissioner (now a Major General) as the Chief Media Liaison Officer in the office of the National Commissioner. After the retirement of the Head of then Communication and Liaison Services, Major General Mbatha has been appointed as the now Head of Corporate Communication in the SAPS. She was not promoted from a rank of Lieutenant Colonel as it is being suggested in certain media. She holds a National Diploma and a B-Tech Degree in Journalism and she also has gained experience while she worked as a journalist and a producer for Current Affairs at the SABC before joining Government Communications as a Media Liaison Officer in 2004.
Captain S Shezi has been appointed as the Private Assistant of the National Commissioner. The appointment was made in terms of the provisions of the South African Police Service Employment Regulations, 2008, Regulation 45 (8), (9) and (10) which inter alia provides for the National Commissioner to promote an employee into a post without advertising the post and without following the prescribed selection process. Due to his suitability he was appointed as the Private Assistant of the National Commissioner and is functioning effectively in the post since August 2009.
Statement issued by Colonel Vishnu Naidoo, National Media Centre, SAPS, March 6 2011
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