Ramaphosa rejects request to probe Cele/Masemola claims
PRESIDENT Cyril Ramaphosa, through his spokesperson, said that he would not appoint a board of inquiry into serious allegations of sabotage after former high-ranking police member Patricia Mashale made damning allegations against the South African Police Service (SAPS) Commissioner General Fanie Masemola.
This was after a request from Elias Muller, a communist activist who asked the president's office to open an urgent investigation into General Masemola’s alleged conduct following a Facebook post by SAPS Whistleblower Patricia Morgan-Mashale implicating Masemola.
In her latest series of posts blasting and exposing behind the scenes of the brutal police battle for power, she alleged that Masemola targeted certain top officials, including former police Minister Bheki Cele, as he feared Cele might remove him from his prominent position and replace him with Lt-General Tebello Mosikili.
She also said that Masemola arranged a meeting between herself and a trusted confidant of him to meet Mashale at a guest house in Brandwag, Bloemfontein.
Her protector from Counter Intelligence was present at the meeting, where they discussed, among other issues, to investigate the Cele and vet all Deputy National Commissioners, Provincial Commissioners, and Heads of Components as Provincial Commissioners.
“President, I request you to urgently, without undue delay or unreasonable delay, appoint a board of inquiry to investigate serious allegations levelled against Gen Masemola by Patricia Morgan-Mashale,” wrote Muller to Ramaphosa.
He listed eight areas to be investigated to establish whether the allegations against Masemola were substantial or without merit.
- Whether Gen Masemola acted in any way constitutes bringing the office he is occupying into disrepute.
- Whether Gen Masemola violated section 195.1(a) and (f) of the Constitution in any manner.
- Whether Gen Masemola shared confidential SAPS information with any member of the public in violation or contravention of the law.
- Whether Gen Masemola abused his position and power for personal gain.
- Whether Gen Masemola abused or used State resources for any unrelated meeting that was attended by his alleged “confidant”.
- Whether Gen Masemola caused SAPS to suffer financial prejudice in any way.
- Is Gen Masemola fit and proper to remain as the national commissioner of the SAPS.
Ramaphosa's spokesperson, Vincent Magwenya, said the president would not establish the board of inquiry.
“The president doesn’t work off the basis of social media posts,” he said.
National spokesperson for the police, Athlenda Mathe, said she would not comment on the matter because there was no evidence backing up the claims.
Cele also did not comment to questions sent to him by the Sunday Independent.
In her Facebook post, Mashale alleged that Veteran violence monitor Mary de Haas was aware of Masemola’s fears, adding that he also communicated with De Haas regarding his protection.
Approached for comment, De Haas stated that she was aware of contacts between Mashale and Masemola.
“He was concerned about his own safety and feared that his office was bugged. He had sent a trusted associate to meet with Patricia in Bloemfontein, and I had personally written to Ramaphosa about Cele’s reported intentions.
“There are also other police who know what is going on, and are very concerned about what happens in management circles, who also leak information because both Patricia and has been working with, and assisting, good police members for many years, and are widely trusted,” she said.
She said that she wrote to the police Portfolio Committee explaining the developments around Mashale and Masemola.
She argued Mashale was being targeted with court actions by senior police members in an effort to prevent her from speaking.
“I do know that I wrote him two letters asking him to instruct Sibiya to observe proper court action processes (which had not been done before an interim order was obtained against Patricia) and to immediately send her the application papers so that she could defend herself. My letters were ignored, and she never got the application papers until she was able to brief lawyers to assist her late last week.
“She was incensed that she had gone out of her way to try and work with Masemola in the interests of professionalising policing, which had been what he had reached out to her about, together with his concern about alleged plans to replace him with a deputy, and I was told he was grateful that I had written to the President about it. However, at that stage (this was for several months last year) I did not deal with him personally, but was in touch with the trusted associate who had met with Patricia,” she said.
Without progress from the lawmakers, De Haas alleged she had been begging Parliament to hold the police to account, but nothing has been done, adding this could be the reason Mashale lost patience and posted the allegations on social media.
Last month, Deputy national police commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya has obtained an interim order barring Mashale from publishing defamatory statements accusing him of corruption.
thabo.makwakwa@inl.co.za