Search for new top cop

With less than two weeks left before Khehla Sitole vacates offices as the country’s national police commissioner, President Cyril Ramaphosa is reportedly considering five career police officers for the top post.

The presidency announced last month the early termination of Sitole’s contract was by mutual agreement between him and Ramaphosa, with his last day in office expected to be on 31 March.

Sitole’s axing added to the long list of national police commissioners since South Africa’s democratic history who failed to complete their term of office.

Sitole’s departure comes amid a series of public spats between him and Police Minister Bheki Cele over key police appointments and the police’s response to the deadly civil unrest that gripped the country in July last year.

News24 reported yesterday Ramaphosa was considering five candidates for the post of police commissioner.

This was according to sources in the security cluster and others close to the process. The president had been lobbied by ANC factions and Cele to appoint Sitole’s successor.

The five names are said to be:

► KwaZulu-Natal provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla “Lucky” Mkhwanazi, 48;

► Gauteng provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Elias Mawela, 56;

► Retired Lieutenant-General Gary Kruser, 61;

► Deputy national commissioner for policing, Lieutenant-General Fannie Masemola, 58, and,

► Police head of crime detection and former Eastern Cape provincial police commissioner Lieutenant-General Liziwe Ntshinga, 59.

Another option might be the appointment of an outsider.