COPE says it’s disappointed that National Police Commissioner General Khehla Sitole is the only one who has taken the fall. It says it would be in the best interest of the country for President Cyril Ramaphosa to also fire Police Minister Bheki Cele.
According to a statement from the presidency, President Ramaphosa and General Sitole have agreed that the early termination of the Commissioner’s contract is in the best interest of the country.
Sitole’s dismissal will take effect at the end of March.
COPE spokesperson Dennis Bloem, “COPE is very disappointed in the selective decision by President Cyril Ramaphosa to only fire the National Commissioner of Police Khehla Sitole. He did not fire the Minister of Police Bheki Cele. In our view, the President is supposed to also fire Minister Bheki Cele. The Minister has failed in his duty to keep the county safe. In the report of the expert panel on the July 2021 unrest, the panel made it very clear that the executive must take full responsibility for what happened in July 2021. Therefore it cannot be that only Khehla Sitole must be fired. It will be in the best interest of the country to also fire Minister of Police Bheki Cele.”
FF Plus also calls for Cele’s sacking
The Freedom Front-Plus says the sacking of Sitole will end the current tensions in the senior structures of the police services. FF-Plus leader and Member of Parliament’s Police Committee Pieter Groenewald says President Ramaphosa’s next move should be to remove Bheki Cele as Police Minister. He says the President should now appoint a commission with knowledge of policing to search and appoint the next police commissioner who should be an experienced police officer and not a politician.
Groenewald elaborates, “The early termination of the service contract of the Commissioner of Police will certainly contribute in easing the tension between the Minster’s Office and senior management of the Police Services. The senior management will now be able to focus more on what they are supposed to do and that is fighting crime in South Africa. The President must also replace the Minster of Police because Bheki Cele has an aspiration to be a commissioner himself and he will always interfere even if there is a new commissioner and then we will have the same situation of tension.”
Tension between Sitole and Cele
Recently there has been tension between Sitole and Police Minister Bheki Cele. The Minister accused Sitole and Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) leader Julius Malema of plotting to have him fired.
Reporter Chriselda Lewis provides some insight into the Sitole/Cele issue:
Cele made the accusation during his contribution to the State of the Nation Address Debate.
“Honourable Malema, on the 10th of December 2020 there was a meeting between yourself and the National Commissioner to plot that I must be chased so I’m not surprised that today this is happening. He has all the rights to make the suggestion, but what I don’t like is being patronised. If you don’t want me as a minister, don’t put me in other places. It’s not your duty,” said Cele.
