W Cape police brass in another major shake-up
IN YET another major shake-up of the province’s police top brass, Western Cape police commissioner Yolisa Mokgabudi has been appointed as an acting divisional commissioner for Crime Intelligence and will be replaced by Thembisile Patekile with immediate effect.
Mokgabudi’s transfer comes less than two years after she took over as the province’s top cop in December 2019.
This was amid previous allegations of her predecessor Khombinkosi Jula’s apparent failure to bring down the level of crime in the province at the time.
Mokgabudi will replace Mzwandile Tiyo at the national level.
National police spokesperson Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo said: “I can confirm that General Mokgabudi has been appointed to act as the divisional commissioner, Crime Intelligence, until further notice and General Patekile has been appointed to act as the provincial commissioner of the Western Cape, also until further notice.”
When asked for reasons for the change in leadership, Naidoo would only say “changes constantly happen within the SAPS for operational reasons”.
Police Minister Bheki Cele’s spokesperson, Lirandzu Themba, said Cele has been kept abreast of the latest moves.
According to reports, a circular dated February 15 announced the changes in the Crime Intelligence cluster, which has been plagued by controversy.
These include an internal investigation into the assassination of Anti-Gang Unit section commander Charl Kinnear, and the events leading to it months before.
The latest move in the police management has been met with mixed reactions from police unions, with the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) saying they would be willing to work with the new management, while the SA Police and Allied Workers Union said Pathekile was once in charge of the province and “no changes were seen to alleviate issues of racial discrimination and gang violence”.
Popcru spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said it has always been in their interest to support any effort to see a united leadership within the police and other departments they work with.
“Part of unifying and building a stronger criminal justice cluster is ensuring stability and co-ordination,” he said.
SA Police and Allied Workers Union president Bonga Makuliwe said Pathekile was once in charge of the province and they had little confidence in him.
“We want change in this province, and a modern strategy of fighting crime. Comradeship, nepotism, cronyism and ignoring academia are the biggest problems confronting the police service.
“Mokgabudi failed to boost the morale and improve service in the province; now she is taken to national level she has no plans for improving morale and keeping the experienced members with qualifications at her units.”
The South African Policing Union said it was concerned about the apparent lack of stability in the police management in the Western Cape province.
“The lack of stability at management level would be counter productive in the long run. Most commanders will always focus on their soldiers than on service delivery.”
Attempts to reach Mokgabudi for comment were unsuccessful.