Another Booysen intrigue

THE saga of suspended KwaZulu-Natal Hawks boss Johan Booysen took another turn yesterday when the national cabinet announced it had approved the appointment of Major-General Isaiah Jabulani Zikhali to the same position Booysen occupies.

Zikhali was appointed to the position earlier this year by Mthando Berning Ntlemeza, the controversial head of the National Directorate for Priority Investigation (commonly known as the Hawks), even though Booysen had not been fired or moved to another position.

Zikhali’s appointment has never been described as an acting appointment, nor did the cabinet statement describe his appointment as an acting position.

Booysen has not been fired but suspended over corruption and racketeering allegations that he ran a death squad while heading the Cato Manor Serious and Violent Crimes Unit.

He has already had the charges, initiated by then acting national director of public prosecutions advocate Nomgcobo Jiba, thrown out by Durban High Court Judge Trevor Gorven – in February 2014.

Booysen was then suspended by Ntlemeza within just days of Ntlemeza’s appointment as the national head of the Hawks.

Ntlemeza claimed Booysen and the men tasked with investigating a police officer’s assassination fraudulently received a monetary reward for shooting dead six innocent men.

That accusation was also thrown out of the Durban High Court.

In February this year Shaun Abrahams, the current head of the NPA, reinstated exactly the same charges Judge Gorven had thrown out. – ANA