SAPS on recent matters in the public domain regarding the police leadership, with Minister present

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Police

02 February 2017
Chairperson: Mr F Beukman (ANC)
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Meeting Summary

The South African Police Services (SAPS) provided a detailed summary of the public allegations as well as the findings into the allegations against the SAPS leadership for matters dating as far back as 2012. The allegations were investigated by CPN Forensic and Ernst & Young based on allegations raised by POPCRU. There were 10 main allegations levelled against SAPS leadership:

Allegation 1: Decommissioning of the Marshall Reference Index [RI] System

Allegation 2: Presentation to Parliamentary Committee on backlog of cases at FSL

Allegation 3: Procurement Irregularities: Goods not delivered at Criminal Records Centre (CRC)

Allegation 4: Procurement Irregularities: Eastern Cape Information.

Allegation 5: Human Resources: Fraud Case [CAS 1519/03/11]

Allegation 6: Human Resources: Irregular Payments

Allegation 7: Human Resources: Irregular Appointments.

Allegation 8: Theft of Narcotics & Rhino horn from FSL

Allegation 9: Human Resources: Disregard of Organizational Structure.

Allegation 10: reckless Neglect of Duties [CAS 350/09/2011]

The Findings in relation to Allegation 3 were reported as follows:

-The allegation by POPCRU that approximately R 30 million worth of items were paid for but not delivered by the supplier is not substantiated by supporting documents. These documents only indicate that at some stage an amount of R29 738 115 still had to be paid to the supplier. POPCRU’s aforementioned allegation could not be substantiated by the financial investigation done by CPN.

-Lt Gen Phahlane centralized delivery of chemicals to exercise better control, since the supplier’s invoice system was flawed. This system did however hold certain risks for the SAPS.

-The supplier benefitted from VAT inclusive prices, without being registered for VAT and without having paid such VAT over to SARS.

-It appears that there may have been collusion between Crimetech Laboratories and Kriminalistik with regards to contract RT 152-2013. If both bided for RT 152-2013 there may have been collusion and declarations of interest may be false.

The Findings in relation to Allegation 6 were reported as follows:

-The allegations against officer Mohlala were unsubstantiated as the member never received scarce skills allowance.

-In terms of Officer Nkgodi, it was found that if provisions regulating awarding of scarce skills allowances as it was in 2006, were applicable in 2011 when the member entered into the agreement, then the scare skills allowance granted would have been irregular as the two criteria relating to qualifications and experience were not met.

-In terms of Major General Shezi’s allegations, the findings were that if it is established that the category under which she performed service was not a recognized scarce skills category, then investigation into the possible fruitless, wasteful and irregular expenditure in terms of the PFMA and Treasury regulations should be done.

-If indeed the case, cognisance must be taken that a wilful manipulation of policy may be deducted from the fact that a scarce skills allowance certificate may have been manipulated.

-The allegations against Mr Nhlapo were unsubstantiated as the member never received scarce skills allowance.

The Acting National Commissioner reported that it had been an onslaught since 2009 where he has been receiving the same allegations over and over – this was tiring. He mentioned that he can not help it if people were unhappy with the outcomes of the investigation and placed it on record that ordinarily when investigations were conducted, those who were being accused were meant to be approached at some point to get their side of the story but for him it was never the case. At no point was he approached in order to verify or obtain his side of the story even in terms of the report of the investigations and in as far as the above allegations were concerned.

During the discussion, Members posed a number of questions to the Acting National Commissioner. They asked about allegations that he had received a vehicle sponsorship and that a service provider was involved in the interior decorations at his house. In addition, they asked about Mr Paul O’Sullivan, why the forensic audit report been kept under-wraps for more than a year, if there had been any action taken against the cases of misconduct such as irregular expenditure and tax related issues, why POCRU had raised the allegations against the Acting National Commissioner and if the Acting National Commissioner would be willing to subject himself to a lifestyle audit that would clear the air with the current allegations.

Some Members expressed concern that there was someone who was intent on bringing down the leadership of the SAPS and bringing down the government. A Member felt that IPID was supposed to be at the meeting so it could respond immediately to some of the issues.

Meeting report

Opening remarks

The Chairperson welcomed Members as well as the delegation and called for a round of introductions. The Acting National Police Commissioner, Lt Gen Khomotso Phahlane, was asked by the Minister of Police, Hon Nathi Nhleko to introduce the delegation.

Mr Z Mbhele (DA) asked if the Independent Police Complaints Directorate (IPID) had been invited to the meeting as they have an important role regarding the matter to be discussed.

The Chairperson replied that the Committee will be meeting with IPID in the next two to three weeks and will ask them about the investigations when they meet.

Mr Mbhele asked, given the fact the matter at hand was being investigated by other organs of state, what was the exact purpose of the meeting? Was it an information meeting assuming that it was not a Committee enquiry around the allegations?

The Chairperson explained that there are several investigations under way and if there was any issue that related to SAPS, these will be addressed because Parliament has a duty to do so.

The Minister thanked the Chairperson for the opportunity to present the report that was never presented to the Committee before. The manner in which they would like to approach the matter was that firstly everyone had to know what the allegations were and how the allegations had been dealt with from a processing point of view as well as knowing what work still needs to be done. The Minister then asked the Acting National Police Commissioner to lead Members into the report.

Lt Gen Phahlane explained that the report that will be presented was one that the SAPS volunteered to the Portfolio Committee in December 2016. The report deals with allegations made in 2012 which were made by the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (POPCRU) and three members who call themselves whistleblowers and were based in the forensic services division.

Lt Gen Phahlane wanted to place it on record that they could not and will not be able to go through the report page by page. The report provided a detailed explanation of the allegations as well as the investigations that have taken place. The investigation was not conducted by the police but by CPN Forensics. Another issue to be discussed was one that dated back to 2009 where he allegedly hosted a party with state funds. There was an agreement that the court processes regarding the matter needed to be respected. In 2009 an allegation was made that there was a birthday party which was funded out of public funds for him, then in his capacity as a Divisional Commissioner. Following the allegations, a case was opened and an investigation was conducted and two people were brought before the court and arrested. The two people were found ‘not guilty’ and were discharged. It was found that there was not even a single cent of the public funds used to fund the party.

Lt Gen Phahlane did not take kindly to a trial through the media. He asked that Brig de Wit proceed with the presentation.

Briefing by SAPS

Brig de Wit (Klenhys) said she would provide a detailed summary of the public allegations against the Acting National Police Commissioner, Lt Gen Phahlane, based on the report by CPN Forensics informed by the allegations made by POPCRU in 2012.

On 25 June 2012, POPCRU lodged an official complaint at the Office of the National Commissioner. There were various allegations of corruption and mismanagement as well as serious derogatory accusations aimed at harming the reputation and integrity of Lt Gen Phahlane. On 7 September, POPCRU released a media statement levelled against Lt Gen Phahlane and that was when the Lieutenant General came to know about the allegations. On 10 September, Lt Gen Phahlane submitted a report to the office of the National Commissioner, calling for an independent investigation into the allegations. The National Commissioner appointed CPN Forensic and Accounting Services [Ernst & Young] on 23 March 2013 to conduct a forensic audit at a cost of R 733 500 to SAPS. The report from the forensic audit was completed on 23 April 2014 and submitted to the office of the National Commissioner. In 30 April 2015 the report was communicated to POPCRU and Lt Gen Phahlane for input or comments. A media briefing was held by the Acting National Commissioner on 01 December 2016 to communicate the contents of the investigations as well as the forensic outcomes and following that a copy of the report was submitted to the Portfolio Committee.

The scope of the investigation was determined by the POPCRU allegations contained in a letter dated 25 June 2012.

Allegation 1: Decommissioning of the Marshall Reference Index [RI] System.

The Marshall System, valued at R46m, is missing. Parts of the machine were sold to police officers and private people. The money was paid to these police officers, private people and the recreational club of a private company to the amount of R10 000. Some parts of the machine were kept and used in buildings of a private company and the company referred to is Vertex. POPCRU suggested that management responded to Parliament ‘as if they don’t know where the system is’.

Findings:

-The decision by the Deputy Director of Public Prosecution not to prosecute anybody was found to be sound.

-There was no irregularity in respect to the procurement of services for dismantling found and it was found that the prescribed process was followed and adhered to by SAPS members.

-Available evidence does not indicate financial loss for the SAPS.

-Retention of parts of the System by Vertex resulted in a more or less R103 000 saving for SAPS.

-Brigadier Joubert’s arrangement with Vertex [to keep some components] may be in conflict with prescripts governing disposal processes.

-No evidence of misconduct by any serving member

-Suggestion by POPCRU that management responded to Parliament as if ‘they do not know where the System is’, was incorrect and misleading.

-Tested against all evidence -POPCRU’s allegations appear to be unfounded.

Allegation 2: Presentation to Parliamentary Committee on backlog of cases at FSL

The Divisional Commissioner’s presentation to the Police Committee during April 2012 reported a backlog of 182 cases, which was ‘fraudulent’. Approximately 5000 cases were not captured by 23 April 2012. A reference made to video footage by a “whistle blower” allegedly taken a week after the presentation, reflecting a backlog in counterfeit South African banknotes to the value of R5 m received for examination.

Findings:

-Presence of the two bags during April 2012 not was not disputed.

-Two SBV bags unattended to for ‘quite some time’.

-Statistics can be manipulated by not registering cases on the system.

-No evidence found that Divisional Commissioner’s presentation to the Police Committee during April 2012 was indeed ‘fraudulent’.

-No evidence was found that two bags were purposefully not registered to avoid poor performance.

-The possibility of manipulation of backlog statistics by not registering cases within a reasonable time not excluded.

Allegations 3: Procurement Irregularities: Goods not delivered at Criminal Records Centre (CRC)

Not all goods purchased and paid for by the SAPS were received “as expected from the supplier”.The goods, which were in the form of chemicals to the amount of R30m, were not delivered to the supplier. It was alleged that service providers “get approval from the Divisional Commissioner, for an example, threatening a white male Brigadier in an email with dismissal if payment to the service provider was not made”.

Findings:

-The allegation by POPCRU that approximately R 30 million worth of items were paid for but not delivered by the supplier is not substantiated by supporting documents. These documents only indicate that at some stage an amount of R29 738 115 still had to be paid to the supplier. POPCRU’s aforementioned allegation could not be substantiated by the financial investigation done by CPN.

The financial investigation substantiated the following;

-The double payments that were made were rectified.

-Record of financial documents incomplete and not conducive for proper control.

-A number of outstanding delivery notes are of great concern. Should reconciliation with SAPS 24 registers not prove delivery, payments made should be regarded as losses and dealt with in terms of the Public Finance Management regulations (PFMA).

-Drastic escalation of expenditure within a short period deserves further investigation, also the increase in orders shortly before expiry of the contract.

-The quality of certain chemicals and canisters supplied by the supplier seems questionable.

-The needs assessment done by Brig Diko, who is in charge of crime scene management, recommended by Major General Khunou and approved by Lt Gen Phahlane, did not comply with the prescripts of Standing Order 2.

-Brig Diko did not consult with end users in respect of the needs when ordering and distributing stock.

-Brig Diko’s explanation that the increase in orders was to address depletion in 2010 does not seem entirely correct.

-Lt Gen Phahlane centralized delivery of chemicals to exercise better control, since the supplier’s invoice system was flawed. This system did however hold certain risks for the SAPS.

-The supplier benefitted from VAT inclusive prices, without being registered for VAT and without having paid such VAT over to SARS.

-It appears that there may have been collusion between Crimetech Laboratories and Kriminalistik with regards to contract RT 152-2013. If both bided for RT 152-2013 there may have been collusion and declarations of interest may be false.

Allegation 4: Procurement Irregularities: Eastern Cape Information.

It was alleged that a Pretoria based official acknowledged receipt of goods received in the Eastern Cape. Due to lack of information, no further investigation was conducted. The outcome provided in the report states that “since no information regarding the allegations was provided upon request by the Auditors, it can be concluded that the matter requires no further attention.”

Allegation 5: Human Resources: Fraud Case [CAS 1519/03/11]

POPCRU’s alleged that senior SAPS members attended a hearing of a fraud case against Lt Col Moorghia-Pillay and former Brig Malebe-Thema without authorization or having taken leave for that period. The second allegation was that no disciplinary action was instituted against Lt Col Moorghia-Pillay for committing fraud against the SAPS.

Findings:

-The entire process by SAPS was tainted from the start [complaint, opening of docket, re-taking of statements, arrest and sourcing of evidence].

-It would have been unreasonable to have expected Lt Gen Phahlane to decide on disciplinary action as he was directly involved as a potential witness.

-A higher authority such as Gen Lebeya did not bring forth a final decision to resolve the matter.

-Any further process to institute disciplinary action had become completely moot, due to time delays since the actual event. Resignation of one of the members involved, the investigation that taking almost two years to be completed and the judgement of criminal court already addressed the merits of the case.

-Correct procurement process was followed to secure venue and pay for breakfast.

-Three senior members did indeed attend the court case as the office of the Divisional Commission had official interest in the outcome of criminal case.

-POPCRU allegation in this regard was viewed as trivial and insignificant.

Allegation 6: Human Resources: Irregular Payments

There were allegations by POPCRU that “officers…Mohlala and Nkgodi” receive scare skills allowance, even though they only have three months service. Relevant policy allegedly provides that a member must have five years’ service to qualify for such allowance. The second allegation was that Major General Shezi is receiving scarce skills allowance despite being in “Support Services” and not regarded as an expert. POPCRU further alleged that the Administration clerk, Warrant Officer Nhlapo, receives an allowance despite being insufficiently qualified. Warrant Officer Ramalepe lodged a grievance, because he did not receive the allowance.

Findings:

-The allegations against officer Mohlala were unsubstantiated as the member never received scarce skills allowance.

-In terms of Officer Nkgodi, it was found that if provisions regulating awarding of scarce skills allowances as it was in 2006, were applicable in 2011 when the member entered into the agreement, then the scare skills allowance granted would have been irregular as the two criteria relating to qualifications and experience were not met.

-In terms of Major General Shezi’s allegations, the findings were that if it is established that the category under which she performed service was not a recognized scarce skills category, then investigation into the possible fruitless, wasteful and irregular expenditure in terms of the PFMA and Treasury regulations should be done.

-If indeed the case, cognisance must be taken that a wilful manipulation of policy may be deducted from the fact that a scarce skills allowance certificate may have been manipulated.

-The allegations against Mr Nhlapo were unsubstantiated as the member never received scarce skills allowance.

Allegation 7: Human Resources: Irregular Appointments.

POPCRU’s allegation was that some members were irregular appointed in their posts. These members are: Brig Morapedi, Brig Mmolawa, Brig de Wit (Kleynhans), Col Daku, Col van der Hammen, Lt Col Mashabela and W/O Bafana. The further allegation was that an African female and a white one, who are both Brigadiers employed at FSL, have been impregnated by the Acting National Commissioner and that they both have children out of the relationships.

Findings:

-Brig Morapedi’s appointment process was irregular, based on errors relating to her qualifications, disqualification, incorrect procedure relevant to absence of panel member during procedure and provisions of National Instruction 4/ 2010 incorrectly applied.

-Brig Mmolawa’s allegations regarding sexual relationships were unsubstantiated. The National Commissioner approved the appointment based on panel’s recommendations centered around equity-technically qualified with regards to years of experience and preceding rank.

-Brig de Wit’s allegations in respect of the sexual relationship were unsubstantial. Her appointment was in terms of section 45 of the SAPS Act. It was found that the Brig served plus minus two years in the rank of a Colonel, therefore she did not qualify for the relevant promotion to the rank of Brigadier.

-There was limited procedural information for Col Daku and no indication that the appointment was in contradiction to the relevant prescripts, however dispute referral documentation may show otherwise. A detailed interview with relevant person at personnel management is required before finding can be made.

-Col van der Hammen’s allegations were found to be without substance.

-Lt Col Mashabela did not apply for the post and the grievance was not related to the filling of the post but about subsistence allowance and the allegations regarding irregular appointment were unfounded.

-POPCRU’s allegations against W/O Nhlapo were found to be without substance.

Allegation 8: Theft of Narcotics & Rhino horn from FSL

Numerous narcotics and a rhino horn were stolen from the FSL. It is alleged that CCTV footage has been viewed by Lt Gen Phahlane, showing the theft of narcotics by an ex-FSL employee who is currently in prison following his conviction of theft of a rhino horn. Further allegations were that no disciplinary steps were taken against the suspect. It is alleged that the analysts colluded by falsely indicating that the rhino horn was that of a cow.

Findings:

-From 2007 to date, 15 cases of Theft of drugs reported to SAPS Silverton for investigation and 6 of the 15 cases are linked to one docket.

-Not enough emphasis placed on investigating when missing exhibits were reported.

-No arrests made in all cases. Negligence by members who handed the exhibits over are of concern.

-There was only one case of theft of rhino horn which was of the member from FSL who was convicted and sentenced.

Allegation 9: Human Resources: Disregard of Organizational Structure.

Posts at CRC were filled disregarding the absence of the organizational structure.

Due to lack of information provided by POPCRU, no finding can be made.

Allegation 10: reckless Neglect of Duties [CAS 350/09/2011]

The allegation by POPCRU was that Col Mathebula made a misrepresentation to court by alleging that it was not possible to allocate an urgent case [Soshanguve CAS 350/09/2011] for handwriting analysis due to a shortage of senior analysts, who were abroad.

Findings:

-Col Mathebula only came to know about the case two days prior to the next court date and both experts were in France at that time and had no choice but to request postponement of the court date.

-The email by Lt Col Ramolobe copied to Lt Gen Phahlane appears to be a malicious attack.

There are also ongoing investigations regarding alleged acts of misconduct by the so called “whistle-blowers” who are W/O Ramalepe, W/O Malatjie and Lt Col Ramolobe. The alleged misconduct was copying during an assessment test by an external service provider. The Departmental investigation was initiated in November 2011 and the current status is that the investigations are still on going. Members did however request for the investigation to be in abeyance pending the finalization of the CPN forensic audit. Lt Col Ramolobe resigned on 1 February 2016.

Lt Gen Phahlane noted that it had been an onslaught since the year 2009 where he has been receiving the same allegations over and over – this was tiring. He mentioned that he can not help it if people were unhappy with the outcomes of the investigation and placed it on record that ordinarily when investigations were conducted,, those who were being accused were meant to be approached at some point to get their side of the story but for him it was never the case. At no point was he approached in order to verify or obtain his side of the story even in terms of the report of the investigations and in as far as the above allegations were concerned. It was important to cooperate with any competent authority charged with the responsibility to conduct investigations. Lt Gen Phahlane mentioned that he was ready to cooperate with CPN forensics and cannot have any issues with the report produced because he was not part of it at any event.

Lt Gen Phahlane received a text in January 2016 from Paul O’Sullivan where he asked for the Acting Commissioner’s email address which he did not respond to as he was surprised that someone such as Paul O’Sullivan would want to work with him on anything. Two to three weeks later Lt Gen Phahlane started receiving messages where he was informed by O’Sullivan that he had been reporting to General Phiyega and Gen Sithole of misconduct and corrupt practices of the then Divisional Commissioner of Detective Services. The text messages continued up to a point where O’Sullivan started to give the Lt Gen Phahlane deadlines and at no point did the Lt Gen respond to any of the messages because he believed that if there was an issue, O’Sullivan could have gone to lay a charge at the police station. O’Sullivan presented a long statement to IPID and to the Acting National Commissioner where he informed them that he will be exposing this misconduct to the UK and also expose the Acting National Commissioner’s relationship or involvement with the ‘Zuptas’.

Lt Gen Phahlane expressed that he was never officially informed of the investigations up until everything went to the media. He was told by one of the builders of his house that four people had visited who were led by a white man who said that they are investigators from Ipid where the leader was O’Sullivan. He expressed that even at that point, no one had informed him that he was under investigation but he grew suspicious of O’Sullivan. Lt Gen Phahlane got more concerned when he was called and informed that O’Sullivan had gone to the estate where he resides but was refused access. Lt Gen Phahlane then called the estate manager to confirm if people were indeed at his house and the manager told him that four people had arrived. Lt Gen Phahlane was informed the people were busy with a confidential investigation. Lt Gen Phahlane was shown a picture of car which belonged to O’ Sullivan. A week later, Lt Gen Phahlane received a call from Mr Nkabide, an Ipid official, who informed him that he was being investigated for defeating the ends of justice.

Lt Gen Phahlane, on the accusations of having a sound system to the value of R80 000, said it was not just a sound system but an entire entertainment system which included a television and he has the receipts which are proof of purchase for the entertainment system.

Lt Gen Phahlane’s driver at the time he was Divisional Commissioner was interviewed by O’Sullivan where in the middle of the interview the driver was told to remember that he is a white man and if he didnot tell the truth he would lose his job and not be employable anywhere else. While it was expressed that there will be cooperation with any competent authorities to conduct investigations it cannot be that the abuse should be left unattended and it was for that reason that the Acting National Commissioner went on record to state that he would be initiating legal proceeding in this regard for the courts of the country to decide on the matter. The SAPS was not yet shaken and will continue to do its work. He emphasised that the allegations were not new but were continuously raised over and over again.

Discussion

The Chairperson asked if there are any other steps flowing from this report that need to be dealt with and which investigations were still under way. He referred to the allegation reported in the public domain that Lt Gen Phahlane was given a vehicle sponsorship by some businessman and asked if that was a claim in terms of management at top level. It was also reported that one of the service providers of SAPS was asked to assist the Acting National Commissioner to assist him with interior decoration of his house.

Ms M Mmola (ANC) asked who Mr Paul O’Sullivan was. Why had the forensic audit report been kept under-wraps for more than a year? She went on to ask the Acting National Commissioner if he was prepared to take the matter to court in a public domain.

Ms L Mabija (ANC) asked the Minister if there is any law or Act that allows a private investigator to work with an institution under government because it seems that the private investigator was working hand-in-hand with IPID. She went on to ask the Acting National Commissioner what actions he had taken now that he had been cleared of the sexual relations allegation because that was deformation of character. She went on to express that she was worried and upset that there was someone who was intent on bringing down the leadership of the Department and bringing down the government because it was like they were not aware of what was happening.

Mr L Ramatlakane (ANC) expressed that he understood very well when the Acting National Commissioner says he was tired of these allegations – the Acting National Commissioner should take comfort in the fact that he will come out of this a better person. He asked the Acting National Commissioner if there had been any action taken against the cases of misconduct such as irregular expenditure and tax related issues. The allegations around the Acting National Commissioner’s house should be dealt with, clarified and put to rest.

Mr P Mhlongo (EFF) expressed that it was worrying to him to see the national sovereignty of the country being undermined by people like O’Sullivan. He mentioned that the murder of Glen Agliotti was still fresh in their minds and the fact that he was murdered because he wanted to reveal information about some of their operations in the country. Mr Mhlongo was reminded of the calls made by POPCRU when the previous National Police Commissioner had to be suspended and how POPCRU disregarded the souls of the people who were massacred in Marikana in its attempt to get the former National Police Commissioner suspended. He expressed that it was clear that the majority of Africans were being set up against one another in a terrible way using, at times, the African’s partisanship which was today at the centre of disunity. The reason for raising these issues was that at the end of the day the commander of police was no longer going to focus on the core functions of strengthening the arms of the police force but will be expected to defend himself now and again and the media will fight against that.

Mr Mhlongo asked what the Portfolio Committee was prepared to do to find the factors and issues that led to this kind of attack of the Acting National Commissioner by POPCRU. There were questions around POPCRU raising these allegations and yet had no allegations against the previous National Commissioner. The Committee had to launch a sober minded approach to investigating the allegations so that there could be a way to unearth the forces intent on disengaging leadership.

Mr M Redelinghuys (DA) thanked the Acting National Commissioner and his team for the briefing as it always helped to get as much information as possible especially in cases such as these. He mentioned that every wrong doing must be investigated and it was fair to investigate these allegations given the status of the person accused. He went on to ask what O’Sullivan’s involvement was with IPID as he had a reputation of being a maverick in the media.

Mr Mbhele noted that there was a need to clear the cloud of doubt that was gathering above the head of the top SAPS leadership and the Acting National Commissioner. He asked about the issue regarding Brig Morapedi and the findings of the investigation being that the appointment process was irregular - official response from SAPS contradicted the findings. How did it get to the contradictory position? Mr Mbhele then directly asked if the Acting National Commissioner would be willing to subject himself to a lifestyle audit that would clear the air with the current allegations.

The Minister expressed that he had no problem with the investigation and believed that no one should have a problem with any investigation if it was warranted. POPCRU should not be faulted for having raised the allegations because the Union believed there was misconduct performed by senior management in the SAPS. He would not go as far as trying to find a correlation between POCRU and O’Sullivan like Mr Mhlongo because they were two different parties but he remained corrected on this.

The Minister mentioned that he was told that O’ Sullivan is a private investigator from the United Kingdom. In terms of the question of there being a law that allows for private investigators to be part of state institutions, the Minister replied to say that even in the writing of that law, it did not necessarily advocate that a private individual was part of a state institution.

The Minister expressed unhappiness with Mr Mhlongo’s departure from the meeting because he did not agree with him on a number of issues but agreed with the idea of Africans being put against each other and yet no one speaks for the African. He went on to add that the bigger question that needs to be raised regarding these was “what exactly is happening here” and this question should be addressed also by the Portfolio Committee.

The Minister mentioned that one cannot talk of being looked after as an ordinary citizen of SA when you have police which could not transform or focus on issues of service delivery in a focused and dedicated kind of manner. He agreed with Mr Mhlongo on the need to critically and broadly look into the issue at hand and the approach should be away from narrow lines of thought. He mentioned that the issue was far broader than the forensic report and forensic services and it was time to confront the issues at hand.

On the question of why the report only came out this year, the Minister expressed that he would not know if there were any administrative reasons as to why the report did not come out as it was difficult to know of the logical reasons of the delay in the publication of the report.

Lt Gen Phahlane shared that he once read that his entire career should be scrutinised – he did not object to this as he has a proud record in the SAPS. He mentioned that O’Sullivan went to his place with the people from IPID and asked the security guard how many protectors he has, where the protectors stay, the registration numbers of his cars and the times of his arrival home. He asked how his house plans could land in this investigators hand who asked questions that were not related to the investigation. Lt Gen Phahlane expressed that he did not know who O’Sullivan is but he was told that he is a forensic investigator.

Lt Gen Phahlane made it clear that he did not preside over any awarding of contracts. In terms of Brig Morapedi’s appointment issue he mentioned that in the report it was recommended that the appointment should be reviewed at national level which means going into the process from beginning to end to show that all that was done was performed in the right way. He further mentioned that Brig Morapedi was one of the best performing Brigadiers in that environment with a performance rate ranging between 95%-100% and the allegations were just malicious.

He addressed the lifestyle audit question raised by Mr Mbhele and said that at the level that he was on, he was on record saying he was willing to be subjected to a lifestyle audit. POPCRU was within their rights to raise these issues although he could not see POPCRU working together with O’Sullivan since he once logged a complaints against POPCRU. He made it clear that O’Sullivan and POPCRU were two different entities.

Lt Gen Phahlane corrected Mr Mhlongo clarifying that Glen Agliotti was still alive and he must be referring to someone else when he spoke of the murder. In terms of the allegations of having sexual relationships with two Brigadiers, one of them being a white woman, was not true. The further allegation was that there were children who were born out of the relationships and it was rumoured that Brig de Wit and the Acting National Commissioner’s child were hidden in Cape Town - he said that people were more than welcome to take photos of their ‘coloured’ baby if they see her in Cape Town. He said that now that they were both in Cape Town, they will go and visit their phantom child and people can take photos of them. He mentioned that he was going to take the matter to litigation because he is a father and a husband and did not like what this had done to his family – he could only imagine what his wife and children were going through. The vehicle was a sponsorship and did not belong to him - it will be returned to the dealership after 18 months. He mentioned that they will adhere to the Chairperson's request to lift out the issues that were outstanding.

With regards to the “whistle-blowers”, Lt Gen Phahlane reminded Members that the people were already charged with misconduct for having copied at an assessment test. The scripts of the accused were reported to be identical - even mistakes made were similar in all three scripts such as incorrect spelling and wrong punctuation. Management was directed to stop the disciplinary process as it would appear as if that they would be trying to silence the ‘whistle-blowers” and so they complied. Now that the report was out the disciplinary process will continue and it should not be seen as an act of “tit for tat”. Paul O’Sullivan went to view the Acting National Commissioner’s house and concluded that the house was to the value of R8m while the Acting Commissioner was on record for explaining he had a bond with a banking institution of R3m.

The Chairperson suggested that the researchers and the content advisor look at the report and see if there were any outstanding issues and come back to Members with an analysis.

Mr Mbhele expressed that he was happy with the suggestion but the missing voice in the room was that of the IPID as they would have been able to get an immediate answer. He requested to have a meeting with IPID sooner than 15 March 2017 to help remove the clouds of doubt and to provide a clear basis in terms of moving forward.

Ms Mabija asked if the police were allowed to make the content of the docket available to the media. Now that these allegations had been made and the investigation findings were out, did the Minister still trust the Acting National Commissioner?

The Minister said he can not confirm the accusation that IPID leaked the report to the media or any docket for that matter - it was incorrect and unethical to leak information of an investigation to the media, whether by the investigator or a police officer.

The Minister addressed the question of trusting the Acting Commissioner by saying that the report was very clear and he was happy with that. He had previously told the Acting National Commissioner that he would have acted and subjected him to a disciplinary process if the report presented findings that confirmed all of the accusations.

The Chairperson thanked the SAPS delegation as well as the Minister and mentioned that the Committee would take note of the responses given. The Committee researcher and content advisor would have a look at the issues that had been dealt with in the next two weeks. The Chairperson then excused the delegation.

Claassen Report

The Chairperson mentioned that for the Claassen Inquiry report discussion there needs to be a quorum and it was unfortunate that there were only six Members present at the time. He thanked Mr J Mthembu (ANC Chief Whip) for coming to assist with discussions.

The Chairperson suggested that the discussion on the report be done in March since no decision had been made by the President.

The Committee agreed.

The meeting was adjourned.

 

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