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Former police minister Bheki Cele says he was legally compelled to authorise public funds for the defence of apartheid-era security police accused of gross human rights violations, despite opposing the move, as he testified at the Khampepe commission probing delays in prosecuting TRC cases.
Testifying before the commission, Cele described his resistance during his tenure as police minister from 2018 to 2024. Former security branch members had sought, and ultimately obtained, funding from the police for legal representation in matters stemming from pre-1994 crimes. A court order had ruled that SAPS, as the legal successor to the apartheid police force, was obliged to cover these costs. Cele challenged this but was bound by the ruling.
In his affidavit and oral evidence, Cele expressed discomfort rooted in his own biography and the anti-apartheid struggle. “I had painful history,” he told the commission.
He recounted losing comrades, witnessing exhumations of bodies buried alive, and the enduring pain of missing persons. “I find it very awkward that it did happen that we had to pay for the legal fees of the people that killed people,” Cele said.
“The people [who] were running the system that was declared a crime against humanity … should then be protected through legal fees by the very same people they pursued?”
He added: “Sometimes we feel the apartheid perpetrators, things were good for them then, and they are still good for them now.”
He highlighted how this clashed with his experience and commitment to justice for TRC cases.
The Khampepe commission, chaired by retired justice Sisi Khampepe, continues to examine allegations of deliberate delays or political interference in investigating and prosecuting apartheid-era atrocities referred for prosecution. Cele’s testimony also touched on resource priorities during his earlier role as national police commissioner, including the intense focus on the 2010 Fifa World Cup.
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