Hawks head Ntlemeza makes his last stand
• Former Hawks head rejects ruling that his appointment was unlawful, while police minister tells him to go home
The standoff between Police Minister Fikile Mbalula and Berning Ntlemeza comes to a head on Tuesday, when the embattled ousted chief of the Hawks crime-fighting unit reports for work.
The standoff between Police Minister Fikile Mbalula and Berning Ntlemeza will come to a head on Tuesday, when the embattled ousted chief of the elite Hawks crime-fighting unit reports for work.
On Thursday, Mbalula appointed an acting head of the Hawks following a ruling by the High Court in Pretoria that Ntlemeza was unfit to hold office. The court ruled that Ntlemeza be removed immediately as the head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigations, commonly referred to as the Hawks. The court found that his appointment was unlawful and irrational.
According to weekend reports, Ntlemeza refused to vacate the office and said only Parliament could remove him. He said he intended to report for duty on Tuesday and remain in his position until 2022, when his term officially ends.
Soon after the court ruling, Mbalula announced the appointment of Ntlemeza’s second-in-command, Lt-Gen Yolisa Matakata, as acting head of the Hawks.
Ntlemeza’s insistence that he remains Hawks boss means that two officers are likely to turn up to occupy the same office on Tuesday.
“I have explained to the top management of the Hawks that it is important that we move in concert going forward. There was nobody who was here to serve as an individual,” Mbalula told a media briefing in Pretoria.
“We are all here to save the country.”
State assets in Ntlemeza’s possession “must be handed over to the new acting head of Hawks Lt-Gen Yolisa Matakata”, he said.
Mbalula said his actions were not driven by malice towards the general.
At the weekend, the minister instructed the former Hawks head to vacate the office.
“He must just vacate in peace‚ he doesn’t need the drama. He’s an old man, so he must go home‚ relax and look after his children. This is not [the soapie] the Bold and the Beautiful; if he understands the law properly, he will understand his place.
“He doesn’t have to write to me; he and his lawyers must write to the court. If they are well educated and not illiterate in terms of the law‚ they will understand that they don’t have to write to me‚” said Mbalula.
Ntlemeza said Mbalula was acting outside his mandate by dismissing him. He plans to challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
Last week, Mbalula withdrew the ministry’s appeal lodged at the SCA against the high court finding, saying he wanted to forge ahead with fighting crime.
Ntlemeza was appointed to the position by former police minister Nathi Nhleko in 2015, despite the court finding that he “lacks integrity and honour”.