Top cop suspended without pay
A TOP cop in the SAPS Intelligence Unit, Major General Deena Moodley, has been suspended for two months without pay for refusing to attend a hearing.
The Daily News has seen a suspension letter which states that in terms of Regulation 5 (5) (a)(i) of the SAPS Discipline Regulations, 2016, Moodley was informed that he was deemed to be suspended from the service without any remuneration, with effect from November 7.
The top cop is facing allegations of gross misconduct including the use of taxpayers’ money to fund a road trip to Durban with his colleagues.
The letter states that the suspension is a result of Major General Moodley’s failure to appear at the hearing on November 7, to answer to the charges.
This was after his hearing had been remanded and he had been warned, “by the chairperson at the hearing on October 10 to appear on the adjournment date, November 7, and he failed to appear or remain in attendance at the hearing.”
The letter further stated that Major General Moodley’s suspension will be in force for a period of two (2) months, until January 7, 2023.
He was also warned that if he fails to report to the Employer Representative within the two months to arrange a date for his hearing, “he will be deemed to be discharged from the Service without any further notice”.
The letter warns Moodley that the onus is on him to appear before the chairperson to advance reasons for his failure to appear before her on the previous date of his hearing in order to prevent his discharge from the service.
The fiasco around the top cop’s suspension is as a result of a number of allegations of gross misconduct levelled against Moodley, including the road trip to Durban with his colleagues.
It is alleged that Moodley was driving a Crime Intelligence black VW Golf GTI registered in his name, fitted with blue lights and police sirens.
On his arrival in Durban, Moodley and his colleagues apparently booked themselves into a luxury Durban beachfront hotel, using Moodley’s Tsogo Sun rewards card, on which points would probably have been added for their stay.
“The booking was paid for allegedly using state funds. (For) an unsanctioned trip, strictly for leisure purposes, the use of state funds is prohibited. The Golf GTI was parked in the hotel parking lot and issued a parking slip for the duration of the trip,” read documents seen by the Daily News.
Further allegations were that Moodley and one female police officer shared a hotel room, while the other police officers used another room.
On his return trip, Moodley apparently submitted toll receipts for payment as part of the operational expenses, for which he was allegedly subsequently reimbursed.
The document also revealed that this was not the first time Moodley allegedly made an unsanctioned trip at the state’s expense … he and his associates allegedly visited the Drakensberg Sun Hotel, and as per the previous trip, they apparently used the same process to claim for all expenses incurred – for which he was apparently reimbursed.
Asked for comment, SAPS National spokesperson Colonel Athlenda Mathe said: “We don’t discuss SAPS internal departmental processes through the media.” Moodley had not responded to requests for comment by deadline.