The total cost to date for litigation in all “baseless” legal action instituted against Major-General Johan Booysen has come to R1.71 million‚ the Democratic Alliance says. It said this was revealed in a reply to a question in Parliament by the DA and added that the figure was set to rise in light of compromised Hawks head Berning Ntlemeza appealing against a Durban High Court decision to overturn Booysen’s suspension.DA spokesman on police matters Zakhele Mbhele said the Durban High Court had ruled that there was no prima facie case against Booysen.However‚ this “frivolous and wasteful litigation” against Booysen continued to no productive end.“It is little wonder that much of the SAPS is in a shoddy state when police management shows itself to be incompetent in this manner and clearly has the wrong priorities that are motivated by political considerations. “Instead of addressing the shameful 83% drop in the conviction rate of Hawks cases since they replaced the Scorpions‚ Ntlemeza is preoccupied with a witch-hunt against Major-General Booysen on spurious grounds. "The price tag of this witch-hunt is nothing more than fruitless expenditure that should have been used to improve the Hawks’ effectiveness in executing their mandate‚” Mbhele asserted. Ironically‚ it was precisely the act of carrying out his duties by bringing charges against Thoshan Panday‚ the business partner of President Jacob Zuma’s son‚ that had made Booysen a target‚ Mbhele added. “It is evident that the fight against corruption and organised crime is not in safe hands as long as Ntlemeza is at the helm of the Hawks. He is a political deployee proving time and again that he was put in this position to drive a partisan agenda to protect President Zuma and his circle of allies and cronies. “In all of this‚ there is no focus on what should be the No. 1 priority of the police service: the citizens of this country and their safety and security. Instead the No. 1 priority is‚ as President Zuma is not shy to say‚ No. 1 himself and his friends. This is manifestly unfair‚ both to Booysen and to all South Africans who live with fear in their homes and workplaces and in the streets‚” Mbhele charged...