New metro cops chief vows to sweep clean
Tembe hits the ground running
David Tembe has had an eventful return to the helm of the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD).
Tembe, the new chief of the metro cops in Johannesburg, spent the first week dashing from one meeting to another, including meeting his boss – mayor Herman Mashaba – and perusing through business plans with regional directors as he wasted no time to plan for the year ahead.
On Wednesday he made an appearance along side Mashaba at the Johannesburg Magistrate’s Court where an alleged building hijacking kingpin appeared.
Tembe has promised to usher in a new era in the law enforcement agency by tackling rampant corruption within the ranks and establishing order in the inner-city as a priority.
His return to the JMPD, however, has also been mired in controversy this week with the ANC in Johannesburg vowing to contest his appointment after claiming that he was not the most qualified candidate for the position and that due process was not followed in his installation.
Tembe served as acting chief of the JMPD in 2011 under the ANC administration but left to join the then newly established National Traffic Police as its head soon after.
Sowetan spoke to the newly appointed chief from his office in Martindale, Sophiatown, barely a week into the hot seat.
He said for him the most pressing issue was to uproot corruption in the department.
That his office is no better than any other official, means nothing to a man who is consumed with the task at hand to ensure the safety of over five million people in the city.
Exuding confidence despite the furore over his appointment, Tembe said he was focused on improving the JMPD to run as a well-oiled, crimecombating machine.
“I do not wish to comment on political matters because I am not a politician. The mandate that I received is to turn around the police department [JMPD] and come up with a strategy in totality,” he said.
Tembe had served close to 20 years at Emergency Management Services before he was moved as director of operations to JMPD in 2003.
“One of the most important things I have to deal with is corruption in the JMPD; the other is to deal with crime prevention, focusing mainly on the inner-city and hijacked buildings, and thirdly, we have to enforce bylaws because people don’t comply with bylaws.”
Tembe sent a stern warning to officers caught on the wrong side of the law, saying drastic measures would be taken against not only them, but their superiors as well.
He intends requesting funds from council for dashboard cameras to be installed in vehicles in a bid to keep an eye on officers and curb corruption.
“If a person is taking bribes, I will take action against the regional commander as well because this is happening under their watch. If there is a team of 15 officers going out and one of them takes a bribe I will be forced to suspend and take action against all of them because we cannot condone that sort of behaviour.”
Tembe said one of the strategies to root out corruption was to acknowledge and reward officers excelling in their work to encourage and inspire others.
He said 90% of JMPD officers were good cops but only a small percentage was giving the rest a bad name.
“I want to focus on good cops. They deserve recognition because lack of recognition means that they will find it pointless to want to excel at their tasks,” he said.
Anti-crime activist Yusuf Abramjee was among those who hailed Tembe’s appointment as a good move, describing Tembe as “a man of integrity and experience”.
‘ ‘ I want to focus on good cops. They also deserve recognition