Mapaballo Borotho
- General Fannie Masemola told the Madlanga Commission that some councillors stage their own hits to secure municipal protection budgets.
- He reiterated that the Political Task Team was successful in its work.
- Masemola also revealed that Deputy National Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya was implicated in the kidnapping of businessman Jerry Boshoga.
National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola told the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry that the Minister of Police has no right to order the national commissioner to disband any programme that has already been implemented to combat crime.
Masemola was testifying at the Inquiry on Monday, in his capacity as the national police commissioner.
“The Minister cannot give us a directive to disband a programme. He cannot say to disband such a low-level team, as it is the team that is on the ground. He also cannot deal with the how part as that is the job of the national and provincial commissioner. There has to be engagement as to why the Minister would get to such a conclusion,” he explained.
President Cyril Ramaphosa established the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry to probe allegations of political interference in police work and criminality within the judiciary.
It came shortly after KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi accused suspended Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu of disbanding the Political Task Team that was investigating political killings, particularly in KZN.
Mkhwanazi alleged that Mchunu instructed the team to be dissolved even though it was already producing results.
Masemola said such a directive amounted to an intrusion into the work of the police.
During the proceedings, Masemola revealed that investigating politically related murders is highly complex and requires significant skill and time.
He said some local politicians even fake their own attempted hits in order to receive municipal protection budgets.
“Some of these cases were hit orders, and linking the shooters and weapons to masterminds is quite complex. In some cases, especially intimidation and attempted murders, councillors will instruct to be shot but not killed, just injured, so that they can get protection from the authorities,” Masemola said.
So when we investigate, we sometimes find that at the crime scene, it was just the shooter and the councillor. Some councillors will confess that they just wanted to get a budget from municipalities for protection.”
Masemola emphasised that the Political Task Team was successful in its mandate, yet Minister Mchunu issued a letter on 31 December to disband it.
He further revealed that a concerned party within SAPS implicated controversial businessman Vusi “Cat” Matlala in the kidnapping of Tshwane businessman Jerry Boshoga.
“The concerned party implicated Cat Matlala and said Deputy National Police Commissioner Shadrack Sibiya has a close relationship with Matlala and there’s no way he would investigate the Boshoga kidnapping case. In a way, he implicated General Sibiya in the kidnapping,” Masemola said.
He refused to give further information regarding Boshoga’s kidnapping as it is still under police investigation.
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