National Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole faces possible suspension

Dr Bernard Coetzee of the Wits Global Change Institute says it is difficult for the National Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole to continue working in an environment in which his credibility is being questioned.

Sitole has been served with a notice of intention to suspend.

Reports say he received a letter from President Cyril Ramaphosa last week, asking for representations as to why he should not be suspended.

Sitole has been found to have breached his duties as a police officer by allegedly intentionally frustrating the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) probes into suspected corrupt procurement deals in Crime Intelligence.

Dr Coetzee says this is an opportunity for Sitole’s bosses to look at a number of their key concerns .

In March, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria found that Sitole and his team failed to provide declassified documents to the Ipid to enable it to investigate the alleged fraud and corruption.

Sitole who was appointed in 2017 could not immediately be reached for comment.

Meanwhile, Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru), deputy general-secretary Peter Ntsime says what is happening in the SAPS is worrying.

Khehla Sitole sacks his deputy Bonang Mgwenya

In November 2020, Sitole sacked deputy national commissioner Bonang Mgwenya.

Mgwenya was arrested in October, in connection with a 2017 multi-million rand blue-lights tender fraud case with the Instrumentation for Traffic Law Enforcement, a company she had close ties with.

According to the National Prosecuting Authority, Mgwenya had a close relationship with Instrumentation for Traffic Law Enforcement owner, Vimpie Manthata.

She and other senior South African Police Service (SAPS) officials apparently colluded with the company to ensure it was awarded a contract to install 1 550 police vehicles with warning lights at an inflated price.

The video below is reporting on the sacking of Mgwenya: