Ngobeni suspension welcome but a year late‚ says DA

The Democratic Alliance says it welcomes the impending suspension of Kwazulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Ngobeni as a positive step towards ensuring accountability for her alleged misconduct.

But DA spokesman on police Zakhele Mbhele said the fact that it has taken more than a year for action to be taken after her suspected involvement in supply chain corruption in the KZN SAPS has surfaced is a shocking indictment on the fight against government corruption.

Mbhele said an affidavit filed in the Durban High Court in December 2014 by then-KZN Hawks Head Johan Booysen cited an independent forensic audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers which showed a “possibly corrupt relationship” between the Provincial Commissioner and Zuma friend and crony‚ Thoshan Panday.

This was followed by the opening of an Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) investigation into Ngobeni’s culpability in financial irregularities in the KZN SAPS Provincial Office involving R60 million‚ which the DA had requested.

The IPID investigation report detailed multiple counts of misconduct on the Provincial Commissioner’s part from failing to initiate internal investigations after being made aware of possible corruption‚ to actively working against a Hawks investigation that had begun on the matter‚ to receiving improper gratification from Mr Panday‚ the main suspect in the investigation‚ Mbhele added.

“This matter is yet another example of the chronic weak accountability which is a pernicious cancer that has long plagued the police service‚ making our cops less effective in the fight against crime because it retards the removal of incompetent management. Ultimately ordinary citizens suffer and face the brunt of crime due to poor performance in the top brass.

“The DA believes that where senior managers face allegations of misconduct or criminality‚ an investigation should be swiftly initiated‚ staffed by independent forensic investigators who will give full attention to their work and complete it expeditiously to reach finality as soon as practically possible‚ ideally within 30 days. The implicated officers should be suspended for the duration of the investigation to ensure its integrity and protection from interference‚” Mbhele said.

“We are glad that this issue is finally seeing some action being taken and hope that it expands to a wider management clean-up to flush out the dead wood in the police top brass and get the SAPS back on track to make our communities safer‚” he added.