New police chief ‘within weeks’
The country would have a new commissioner by the end of November, Police Minister Fikile Mbalula said on Wednesday.
The country would have a new commissioner by the end of November, Police Minister Fikile Mbalula said on Tuesday.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) has been without a substantive commissioner since Riah Phiyega was suspended in 2015. Since then, a number of acting commissioners have taken charge only to be removed amid various allegations against them.
Mbalula said he had instructed acting commissioner Lt-Gen Lesetja Mothiba to put the police strategic plan on hold, until a national commissioner was appointed.
The Presidency did not respond to questions about President Jacob Zuma’s plans for the police post on Tuesday.
Gareth Newham, head of governance, crime and justice division at the Institute for Security Studies, said it was crucial for Zuma to not only appoint a new national commissioner, but he should adhere to government policy as set out in the National Development Plan (NDP) about the calibre of his appointee.
Mbalula said the appointment would be done as provided for in the Constitution.
The NDP also requires Zuma to establish a National Policing Board with “multisectoral and multidisciplinary expertise” to set standards for recruiting, selecting, appointing and promoting police officials.
Newham supported sentiments expressed by trade unions in the police who had described the SAPS as a weak- ened institution whose operations had deteriorated into a crisis in police management due to instability in key positions, exposing the department to political interference.
Among the most affected units was crime intelligence, which has had no permanent leaders since Lt-Gen Richard Mdluli was suspended in 2011.
Briefing journalists in Pretoria, the police minister justified his perceived interference at crime intelligence.
He said it was necessary to intervene in crime intelligence as it had “become a law unto itself”. There was a rogue element in the unit.