Cele should follow Sitole out the door

“YES, we could have done better.”

That was surely the most gross understatement of the conduct of the police during the unrest in KwaZuluNatal and Gauteng last year.

In most other countries the person in former national police commissioner Khehla Sitole’s position would have been fired in the immediate aftermath of the looting, or would have resigned post haste in shame. Not to mention his obstruction of investigations into patently shady procurement deals and the murder of a policeman probing police corruption.

But this is South Africa, where shame is in short supply, and where getting rid of the incompetent, unqualified and corrupt requires months of jumping over court, union and labour legislation hurdles.

In Sitole’s case, he finally vacates his office next week, eight months after the debacle which cost the country billions, permanently closed down several businesses and hastened the brain drain.

Now we learn that President Cyril Ramaphosa is considering five names for Sitole’s replacement, albeit this will be in an acting capacity, with the permanent candidate to be recommended by a panel.

Along with legislative changes to ensure the new commissioner can work without political interference, we need someone who will abandon the rhetoric we have become so used to and tired of, and take concrete steps to address our dire crime numbers.

We need a commissioner who will address gang and taxi violence, the gender-based violence which is the shame of our nation, and the DNA forensics backlog which delays the finalisation of thousands of cases.

But let’s also not forget the elephant in the room, the Cat in the Hat.

Under his stylish hats, Bheki Cele has hardly covered himself in glory as Minister of Police, overseeing a steady rise in most crime categories.

Giving the lie to the impression he creates of having crime under control, he is still to live up to his promise to arrest the killers of Senzo Meyiwa within days, nearly eight years later.

As political head of the police, his head should roll alongside Sitole’s.