Police ‘power plays’ hurt SA
EXPERT: STATE FORCES ‘FALLING APART’ AMID INFIGHTING
‘While crime levels increase, the internal battles of the NPA, SAPS also increase.’
Ongoing power struggles between senior police officers and spats between the police and the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) do not bode well for society, says Johan Burger, senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies ISS).
“Those state forces supposedly keeping us safe are increasingly fighting each other and are – from what we see from the outside – falling apart,” said Burger.
Wednesday’s statement by the South African Police Service (SAPS) regarding the termination of Colonel Martinus Botha’s contract was a case in point and unlikely to smooth relations between SAPS and the NPA.
“After obtaining information about the unauthorised and irregular involvement of Colonel Botha with regards to the issuing of a summons against advocate Nomgcobo Jiba, the deputy national director of public prosecutions, we requested him to provide a statement about his role,” read the statement, signed by national police spokesperson Lieutenant-General Solomon Makgale.
“It was clear from the statement he had secretly met with NPA officials and took instructions from them about the summons without informing the investigating officer and his commander, Major-General Norman Taioe.”
It basically accused the NPA of acting in collusion with Botha.
Burger of the ISS governance, crime and justice division, said: “Ordinary members of the prosecuting authority and police just want to do their jobs – they cannot avoid being affected by this, even if only psychologically. While crime levels are on the increase – serious and violent crime – the internal battles are also increasing.”
The furore between the police and the NPA erupted in March when a summons for Jiba was served on her boss, National Director of Public Prosecutions Mxolisi Nxasana.
Jiba’s prosecution follows her failed attempt to nail Maj-Gen Johan Booysen of the KwaZulu-Natal Hawks on charges of racketeering.