Crisis in SAPS picks up as Cele butts in again
The intervention of Police Minister Bheki Cele in the operations of the SAPS once again came under the spotlight after another questionable intrusion into the disciplinary process against crime intelligence head Peter Jacobs.
On Wednesday, Cele wrote to SAPS national commissioner Khehla Sitole directing him to attend to a complaint that Jacobs penned to the minister regarding the disciplinary process the top spy, together with five others, are undergoing related to procurement of personal protective equipment (PPE) using the Secret Service Account.
In November, Sunday World reported that the Office of the Inspector-general, Setlhomamaru Dintwe, was investigating the dodgy procurement of PPE by crime intelligence to the tune of almost R1-million using the slush fund.
Since then, a fallout has occurred between Cele and Sitole, who is said to be concerned about what he sees to be interference by Cele in his area of work.
In December, Cele instructed the commissioner to place all investigations and intended suspensions of Jacobs and others related to the PPE saga in abeyance. Dintwe was supposed to submit a report to him first before action against those implicated could commence.
Sitole stood his ground, saying that the Public Finance Management Act enjoined him to act on allegations of financial misconduct.
Last month, Jacobs, intelligence planning and monitoring head Brigadier Deon Lombard and head of covert intelligence collection Josias Lekalakala, among others, lodged an urgent application to nullify their suspensions.
They argued that the Intelligence Services Oversight Act required Dintwe to submit a report to Cele for the minister to take a decision on the matter.
The court dismissed the bid with costs, ruling Sitole was the head of the crime intelligence and the buck stopped with him when it came to matters of financial and administrative accounting.
On Cele’s role, the court said: “The minister is responsible for determining national policing policy [section 2016 of the constitution] and the overall execution of the department’s mandate, in relation to key pieces of legislation.”
This week, Jacobs again wrote to Cele, raising objections about the disciplinary process.
He said both the chairperson of the hearing and the investigating officer did not have security clearance.
Cele said Jacobs’ complaint was of great concern and “hence I direct your office to attend to this matter quite urgently. This must not be perceived and/or construed as interference in the work of the presiding office”, he said.
DA spokesperson on state security Dianne Kohler-barnard decried the state of crime intelligence.
“This entire murky matter is a disgrace and so much seems to reflect those dirty days of the Mdluli era. It is difficult not to believe General Jacobs is being attacked for introducing mechanisms that turned off the taps for the looters still working quietly in this division.”