A spate of perturbing cases involving our police and court systems has strong political undertones, writes Sam Sole.
Safeguards against the abuse of state power face one of their stiffest tests in the series of intertwined cases involving former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli, suspended prosecutor Glynnis Breytenbach, former police commissioner Bheki Cele and the 20 policemen arrested this week as part of a crackdown on the so-called Cato Manor police death squad.
Every government tries to use the coercive weight of state authority to remove problems it would rather not deal with through open and drawn-out legal processes. But the shortcuts taken by the Zuma administration have been piling up in an unsustainable way that threatens the prolonged destabilisation of both the police and the prosecution service. The attempts at political manipulation also have implications for the media because various sides in the conflict have used leaks and spin to smear their opponents.
Complicating the process – perhaps even driving it – is that in each case personal interests are involved for the most senior political figures, including Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa and President Jacob Zuma. Moreover, those shortcuts are now facing unprecedented scrutiny in a blizzard of cases.
In terms of Mdluli, they include:
His challenge to his suspension in the Johannesburg Labour Court;
The new disciplinary charges filed against him by outgoing acting police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi;
The inquest into the 1999 murder of Oupa Ramogibe, the husband of Mdluli’s former lover;
The Freedom Under Law challenge to the withdrawal of charges against Mdluli and his short-lived reinstatement as divisional commissioner for crime intelligence following the intervention of Mthethwa;
The Hawks investigation into abuses of the secret services account, which implicated Mdluli and other senior crime intelligence officers;
Breytenbach’s challenge to being suspended by the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), which she alleges had the ulterior motive of preventing her from prosecuting Mdluli for allegedly defrauding the secret services account;
The preliminary investigation by the public protector into Mdluli’s possible role in the surveillance or targeting of Zuma’s political rivals, following a complaint laid by Tokyo Sexwale;
The involvement of the inspector general of intelligence and the auditor general in some aspects of these investigations; and
The ministerial task team appointed by Mthethwa to look into Mdluli’s allegations of a conspiracy against him by other senior police officers.
In terms of Cele, they include:
His high court challenge to the findings of the Moloi inquiry into his fitness to hold office;
Judge Jake Moloi’s recommendation to investigate further Cele’s involvement in the Roux Shabangu police headquarters leasing scandal, as well as question marks over several senior police appointments;
The ongoing litigation over the cancelled leases between the department of public works, Shabangu and his banker, Nedbank;
The suggestion that, because of his closeness to some of those involved, Cele may be drawn into the Cato Manor “hit squad” case and the prosecution of nouveau millionairess Shauwn Mpisane for allegedly defrauding the South African Revenue Service. Cele was conspicuously present in court to support both sets of accused; and
The investigation into how crime intelligence came to intercept Cele’s telephone calls – as well as those of two Sunday Times journalists.
Regarding Breytenbach:
The NPA denies that her involvement in pressing for Mdluli’s prosecution played any role in disciplinary action taken against her, instead citing allegations of improper conduct in another politically charged case – the Kumba Iron Ore criminal case against politically connected company Imperial Crown Trading.
The interwoven strands of these cases can perhaps best be understood by traversing the history of one of the key players.
Cele, contrary to some views, has not been a steady backer of Zuma.
During his time in KwaZulu-Natal, he was for a long time associated with the S’bu Ndebele faction of the provincial ANC, which supported former president Thabo Mbeki until the reality of the Zuma tsunami forced most to switch sides. Historically, Cele was seen as the power broker for the eThekwini region that controlled access to the significant resources of the Durban metro council.
Allies of Cele, such as the Mpisanes and the Gcaba taxi family, benefited from Durban contracts in housing and transport. To complicate matters, the Gcabas are said to have been important contributors to the funds raised for Zuma while he was fighting the corruption charges being pursued by the Scorpions. In 1998 Sbu Mpisane (Shauwn’s husband), a metro police constable, was due to be a state witness in the trial of long-distance taxi boss Mandla Gcaba, accused of arranging the revenge killing of a rival taxi owner. But Mpisane, whose car was identified as the getaway vehicle, disappeared and his failure to testify may have played a role in Gcaba’s acquittal. Mpisane later reappeared and rose to fame as Durban’s richest metro policeman, courtesy of his wife’s company. Conflict between rival taxi associations also looms large in the history of the Cato Manor unit, which fell under provincial Hawks boss Major General Johan Booysen.
During Cele’s tenure as KwaZulu-Natal safety and security MEC, he and Booysen were both cited in an interdict obtained in October 2008 by the chairperson of the kwaMaphumulo Taxi Association, Bongani Mkhize, preventing the police from killing him.
Mkhize, who was embroiled in a long turf war with another taxi association, was being sought in connection with the murder of Kranskop police commander Zethembe Chonco in August that year. At the time of the interdict, the police, including members of the Cato Manor organised crime unit, had killed seven suspects linked to the Chonco murder in alleged shoot-outs. Despite the interdict, Mkhize was shot dead in February 2009 by a police task team that included members of the Cato Manor unit. Police claimed he fired on them, but a ballistics expert brought in by the family raised serious doubts about their version. This killing also featured in the secret intelligence report leaked by the Mdluli camp in March 2011, just ahead of Mdluli’s arrest for the 1999 love triangle murder.
The report – without advancing evidence – accused Cele of orchestrating the killing of Chonco to cover up his own supposed involvement in taxi violence, which Chonco had “stumbled on”, and then arranging for all those involved in the Chonco murder to meet a similar grisly end. Cele, in turn, is understood to have supported the murder investigation into Mdluli, which was reopened shortly before Cele assumed office in 2009. Both Zuma and Mthethwa have also been drawn into the drama around Booysen and members of the Cato Manor unit.
Police claimed to have evidence that taxi boss Mkhize was involved in planning the murder of chief Mbongeleni Zondi, a relative and ally of Zuma. According to a police intelligence source, Zondi, a former policeman, was targeted by Mkhize because he was suspected of providing the information that led to the killing of Maphumulo taxi association boss Magojela Ndimande and his bodyguard in December 2008. They, too, were gunned down by members of the Cato Manor unit, purportedly while on the trail of Chonco’s killers – and all but one of the four suspects accused of involvement in the Zondi killing are now dead at the hands of the police.
In all cases, the Cato Manor unit is claiming the justifiable use of deadly force, but the high-visibility arrests of its members this week suggest an attempt to break the bonds of solidarity that traditionally exist in such a unit. Even sympathetic sources concede that the unit may have become trigger-happy, particularly in relation to suspects allegedly involved in the killing of policemen. But the high-profile involvement of opposing political figures – notably Mthethwa’s earlier vocal demand for the disbanding of the unit and Cele’s public show of support this week – suggests there is more at stake. Booysen, although not charged, is clearly a target. He was initially threatened with suspension for failing to act on the Cato Manor unit’s alleged abuses, but rebuffed the attempt in court. But Booysen is also key to an investigation that has exposed the involvement of the president’s relatives, notably Zuma’s son Edward and Zuma’s friend Deebo Mzobe. Both men have been accused of attempting to intercede in the investigation of Durban multimillionaire Thoshan Panday, accused of fraud in police accommodation contracts. Both have denied their involvement, but not their links to Panday.
Citizen reporter Paul Kirk, who is known to have good contacts in the Cato Manor unit, reported this week that some of the arrested policemen had been involved in investigations into Edward Zuma and his business partners – and that others had been used in probes targeting Mdluli. Mthethwa has, in particular, been embarrassed by leaks about the use of secret services account money to upgrade security at his KwaZulu-Natal home.
On the other hand, the Hawks component of the investigation into the Cato Manor unit was led by Major General Ntebo Mabula, a policeman known to be a trusted associate of Mdluli. The investigation into the unit was prompted by a front-page story in the Sunday Times – complete with some shocking crime-scene pictures of Cato Manor members and their victims. Both the tip-off for the story and the supply of the pictures appear to have come from senior unnamed crime intelligence officers, although the Sunday Times has denied being manipulated by its sources.
The web of cases linking Cele, Mdluli and Breytenbach appears to have many strands that might pose a risk to Zuma and his allies, should they be fully teased out. That may explain the heavy-handed tactics on display in Durban, where the Cato Manor cops offered to hand themselves over but were arrested and handcuffed in front of their families. This approach is also evident in the Breytenbach case, in which the prosecutor has even been charged with performing work outside of the NPA by renting out a flat and running a horse-stabling business.
It may also explain the apparently endless blocking manoeuvres available to Mdluli to challenge his suspension. Whether the strong-arm tactics succeed may depend on how vulnerable those in the firing line perceive themselves to be — and how vulnerable they think the president is.
Source: Mail & Guardian
Showing posts with label Thoshan Panday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Thoshan Panday. Show all posts
Friday, June 22, 2012
Thursday, April 19, 2012
How Poor Leadership Undermines the Work of the South African Police Service
The South African Constitution places the South African Police Service (SAPS) in the frontline against crime and obliges it ‘to protect and secure the inhabitants of the Republic and their property.’ At one level, this has been taken seriously and in the last decade the SAPS has expanded to a huge organisation of more than 194 000 people, including approximately 160 000 trained police officials and around 34 000 civilian support staff. Its budget for 2012/13 is R62,5 billion, which represents 65,3% of the total criminal justice budget. However, in order for the police to be effective against crime, it has to ensure that the public has confidence in it. This will only occur if the SAPS leadership consists of men and women who are highly skilled professionals with the appropriate expertise and whose integrity is beyond reproach.
The question is whether the current state of leadership in the SAPS is able to ensure that the SAPS becomes the type of professional police agency that will be respected by all people.
There can be little doubt that the many examples of senior officers being implicated in criminal activity and corruption is eroding both public trust and police morale. Furthermore, it is demonstrative of the extent to which effective leadership is lacking in the SAPS. The leadership problem starts with who is appointed as the most senior and the most powerful police officer, the National Commissioner of Police. The previous national commissioner of the SAPS, Jackie Selebi, who had no experience in policing when he was appointed by then President Thabo Mbeki, made many poor decisions regarding the structure of the SAPS, for example closing down important specialised units. In 2010 he was convicted on a charge of corruption and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. In July 2009 Bheki Cele was appointed by President Jacob Zuma and like his predecessor, was not a career policeman, having previously served as a politician in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government.
Cele soon gained media prominence more for his often tactless, and some may argue, irresponsible public utterances than for his police leadership qualities. In 2011 the South African Police Union (SAPU) publicly accused him of nepotism, after the appointment of close family members and friends to senior positions in the police. These allegations followed shortly after the release of the report by the Public Protector in February 2011 into alleged irregularities relating to the leasing of office accommodation for the SAPS. The Public Protector found, inter alia, that Cele’s conduct in this regard was ‘improper, unlawful and amounted to maladministration’. In October 2011, almost eight months after the release of the report, President Zuma announced Cele’s suspension and the appointment of a Board of Inquiry to investigate, amongst others, whether he acted ‘corruptly or dishonestly or with an undeclared conflict of interest in relation to the two leases (police offices in Pretoria and Durban). The Board concluded its inquiry in the first week of April 2012 and the country now waits for its findings into whether Cele is fit to hold the position of SAPS National Commissioner.
The consequences of poor choice of leadership in the SAPS over the years are becoming abundantly clear. Allegations of ongoing irregularities relating to the business of the SAPS’ Supply Chain Management prompted President Zuma to request the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate possible corruption in the allocation of contracts handled by this division in August 2010. This investigation is not yet concluded, but since it began its work, three generals connected to Supply Chain Management took early retirement and another is currently suspended.
The Crime Intelligence Division has also for many years been fraught with allegations and reports of criminal conduct and abuse of power. For example, Mulangi Mphego, head of the division during Selebi’s term of office, was accused of various unlawful activities such as interfering with a key state witness, Glen Agliotti, during Selebi’s corruption investigation. This led to criminal charges being laid against Mphego and his subsequent resignation in 2009.
He was succeeded by the now infamous Lieutenant General Richard Mdluli, who appears to be protected at the highest level given that criminal charges of murder and corruption have been controversially withdrawn in spite of a large amount of evidence against him. Additionally, investigations into a substantial number of separate allegations of Mdluli’s involvement in corruption into misuse of the SAPS Secret Service Account have inexplicably been shut down.
A further example of how poor leadership at the highest levels is undermining the SAPS can be found with the sudden closure of the apparently successful Cato Manor Organised Crime Unit in Durban in March 2012. Members of the Cato Manor Unit were as recently as February 2012 praised by a judge in the Pongola High Court for their professional work on the case involving the ‘KZN-26’ gang, notorious for cash-in-transit heists, robberies and murder. This followed sensational claims made by a police officer charged with corruption that the unit was operating as a ‘hit squad.’ The unit was quickly closed down without the allegations against its members being properly investigated first. Of concern was that a notice of intended suspension was served on the provincial Head of the Hawks, Major General Johan Booysen to whom they ultimately report
The closing down of the unit and attempts at suspending Booysen must be viewed against the background of corruption and fraud charges being investigated by the Hawks against a prominent Durban businessman, Thoshan Panday. According to media reports the corruption charge followed the alleged attempt by Panday and Colonel Navin Madhoe from the SAPS KwaZulu-Natal Supply Chain Management in Durban to bribe Booysen with R2 million to assist Panday with the withdrawal of the fraud charges against him. It has been reported that KwaZulu-Natal SAPS Provincial Commissioner Monnye Ngobeni, had tried to halt the investigation into Panday. She became a subject of the Hawks investigations after it emerged that Panday had paid for her husband’s birthday celebration. Interestingly, the NPA declined to prosecute her, alleging that there was ‘insufficient evidence’ to prove that there was corruption involved in her relationship with Panday. Furthermore, the Sunday Tribune reported a link between Edward Zuma, a son of President Zuma, and Thoshan Panday. Apparently, Edward Zuma unsuccessfully attempted to exert pressure on Booysen to release a R15 million payment that was allegedly owed to Zuma by Panday and had been frozen as part of a criminal investigation.
Booysen successfully fought his suspension by approaching the Labour Court, which ruled that he had been unfairly suspended. However, the court order was ignored by powerful figures in the SAPS who went ahead with the suspension regardless. Booysen was then forced to approach the Labour Court a second time to have the suspension overturned once again and is back at work but facing an uncertain future.
Ongoing problems at the highest levels of the SAPS are starting to take its toll on station level police men and women. On 10 April 2012 The Star published an article titled, ‘Stress, frustration, wreck police force’, that pointed out how allegations of mismanagement at the highest levels has tarnished the image of the police and how it complicates the lives of ordinary police members. The negative impact of bad leadership on the morale of police members cannot be separated. A police service suffering from poor leadership and low morale cannot effectively perform its mandate. The situation has clearly deteriorated to the point where the credibility of police leadership at both a political and operational level have been so severely undermined that external intervention is sorely needed. The Minister of Police who would ordinarily be responsible for addressing leadership problems, now stands accused of interfering to protect Mdluli while also irregularly benefiting from the Secret Service Account to the tune of R195 000 for renovations to his private residence and lying about it to the media.
The ISS reiterates its call for a judicial commission of inquiry with strong powers of investigation and subpoena and the necessary resources to allow it to independently and authoritatively probe the allegations of corruption, their underlying causes and then to make practical recommendations for corrective measures. It is unfair to expect the many hardworking, honest men and women in uniform to place their lives on the line when those at the helm of the organisation have lost credibility.
Source: ISS
The question is whether the current state of leadership in the SAPS is able to ensure that the SAPS becomes the type of professional police agency that will be respected by all people.
There can be little doubt that the many examples of senior officers being implicated in criminal activity and corruption is eroding both public trust and police morale. Furthermore, it is demonstrative of the extent to which effective leadership is lacking in the SAPS. The leadership problem starts with who is appointed as the most senior and the most powerful police officer, the National Commissioner of Police. The previous national commissioner of the SAPS, Jackie Selebi, who had no experience in policing when he was appointed by then President Thabo Mbeki, made many poor decisions regarding the structure of the SAPS, for example closing down important specialised units. In 2010 he was convicted on a charge of corruption and sentenced to fifteen years in prison. In July 2009 Bheki Cele was appointed by President Jacob Zuma and like his predecessor, was not a career policeman, having previously served as a politician in the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Government.
Cele soon gained media prominence more for his often tactless, and some may argue, irresponsible public utterances than for his police leadership qualities. In 2011 the South African Police Union (SAPU) publicly accused him of nepotism, after the appointment of close family members and friends to senior positions in the police. These allegations followed shortly after the release of the report by the Public Protector in February 2011 into alleged irregularities relating to the leasing of office accommodation for the SAPS. The Public Protector found, inter alia, that Cele’s conduct in this regard was ‘improper, unlawful and amounted to maladministration’. In October 2011, almost eight months after the release of the report, President Zuma announced Cele’s suspension and the appointment of a Board of Inquiry to investigate, amongst others, whether he acted ‘corruptly or dishonestly or with an undeclared conflict of interest in relation to the two leases (police offices in Pretoria and Durban). The Board concluded its inquiry in the first week of April 2012 and the country now waits for its findings into whether Cele is fit to hold the position of SAPS National Commissioner.
The consequences of poor choice of leadership in the SAPS over the years are becoming abundantly clear. Allegations of ongoing irregularities relating to the business of the SAPS’ Supply Chain Management prompted President Zuma to request the Special Investigating Unit (SIU) to investigate possible corruption in the allocation of contracts handled by this division in August 2010. This investigation is not yet concluded, but since it began its work, three generals connected to Supply Chain Management took early retirement and another is currently suspended.
The Crime Intelligence Division has also for many years been fraught with allegations and reports of criminal conduct and abuse of power. For example, Mulangi Mphego, head of the division during Selebi’s term of office, was accused of various unlawful activities such as interfering with a key state witness, Glen Agliotti, during Selebi’s corruption investigation. This led to criminal charges being laid against Mphego and his subsequent resignation in 2009.
He was succeeded by the now infamous Lieutenant General Richard Mdluli, who appears to be protected at the highest level given that criminal charges of murder and corruption have been controversially withdrawn in spite of a large amount of evidence against him. Additionally, investigations into a substantial number of separate allegations of Mdluli’s involvement in corruption into misuse of the SAPS Secret Service Account have inexplicably been shut down.
A further example of how poor leadership at the highest levels is undermining the SAPS can be found with the sudden closure of the apparently successful Cato Manor Organised Crime Unit in Durban in March 2012. Members of the Cato Manor Unit were as recently as February 2012 praised by a judge in the Pongola High Court for their professional work on the case involving the ‘KZN-26’ gang, notorious for cash-in-transit heists, robberies and murder. This followed sensational claims made by a police officer charged with corruption that the unit was operating as a ‘hit squad.’ The unit was quickly closed down without the allegations against its members being properly investigated first. Of concern was that a notice of intended suspension was served on the provincial Head of the Hawks, Major General Johan Booysen to whom they ultimately report
The closing down of the unit and attempts at suspending Booysen must be viewed against the background of corruption and fraud charges being investigated by the Hawks against a prominent Durban businessman, Thoshan Panday. According to media reports the corruption charge followed the alleged attempt by Panday and Colonel Navin Madhoe from the SAPS KwaZulu-Natal Supply Chain Management in Durban to bribe Booysen with R2 million to assist Panday with the withdrawal of the fraud charges against him. It has been reported that KwaZulu-Natal SAPS Provincial Commissioner Monnye Ngobeni, had tried to halt the investigation into Panday. She became a subject of the Hawks investigations after it emerged that Panday had paid for her husband’s birthday celebration. Interestingly, the NPA declined to prosecute her, alleging that there was ‘insufficient evidence’ to prove that there was corruption involved in her relationship with Panday. Furthermore, the Sunday Tribune reported a link between Edward Zuma, a son of President Zuma, and Thoshan Panday. Apparently, Edward Zuma unsuccessfully attempted to exert pressure on Booysen to release a R15 million payment that was allegedly owed to Zuma by Panday and had been frozen as part of a criminal investigation.
Booysen successfully fought his suspension by approaching the Labour Court, which ruled that he had been unfairly suspended. However, the court order was ignored by powerful figures in the SAPS who went ahead with the suspension regardless. Booysen was then forced to approach the Labour Court a second time to have the suspension overturned once again and is back at work but facing an uncertain future.
Ongoing problems at the highest levels of the SAPS are starting to take its toll on station level police men and women. On 10 April 2012 The Star published an article titled, ‘Stress, frustration, wreck police force’, that pointed out how allegations of mismanagement at the highest levels has tarnished the image of the police and how it complicates the lives of ordinary police members. The negative impact of bad leadership on the morale of police members cannot be separated. A police service suffering from poor leadership and low morale cannot effectively perform its mandate. The situation has clearly deteriorated to the point where the credibility of police leadership at both a political and operational level have been so severely undermined that external intervention is sorely needed. The Minister of Police who would ordinarily be responsible for addressing leadership problems, now stands accused of interfering to protect Mdluli while also irregularly benefiting from the Secret Service Account to the tune of R195 000 for renovations to his private residence and lying about it to the media.
The ISS reiterates its call for a judicial commission of inquiry with strong powers of investigation and subpoena and the necessary resources to allow it to independently and authoritatively probe the allegations of corruption, their underlying causes and then to make practical recommendations for corrective measures. It is unfair to expect the many hardworking, honest men and women in uniform to place their lives on the line when those at the helm of the organisation have lost credibility.
Source: ISS
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