‘Top cops and 28s sit at same table’
WESTERN Cape Premier Alan Winde has urged police ombudsman Oswald Reddy to investigate a statement from a judge who says top cops and gangsters sit at the same table.
This follows after a Western Cape High Court judgment stated there was evidence that gang members had infiltrated the top management structures of the SAPS in the Western Cape, and were accessing key documents and strategies on crime fighting.
In a ruling passed by Judge Daniel Thulare, it was stated: “The evidence suggests not only a capture of some lower-ranking officers in the SAPS. The evidence suggests that the senior management of the SAPS in the province has been penetrated … to the extent that the ‘28 gang’ has access to the table where the provincial commissioner of the SAPS in the Western Cape sits with his senior managers and leads them in the study of crime, developing crime prevention strategies and decides on tactics and approach to the safety and security of inhabitants.
“This includes penetration of and access to the sanctity of the reports by specialised units like the Anti-Gang Unit and Crime Intelligence, to the provincial commissioner.”
Winde said: “This matter cannot be ignored any longer by Police Minister Bheki Cele and the government. In the absence of decisive action from them over a considerable amount of time, we as the Western Cape Government (WCG), are committed to addressing this critical issue,” Winde said.
“...President Cyril Ramaphosa needs to fire Minister Cele. How much longer can the president allow him to keep this critical Cabinet position, in light of these serious allegations against SAPS.”