Embattled Gauteng and KZN police chiefs bow out

Embattled KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Mmamonnye Ngobeni may have retired‚ but questions remain as to whether the inquiry into her fitness to hold office will fall away with her departure.

In a statement issued on Thursday‚ national commissioner of police Gen Khehla Sithole announced that Ngobeni and another long-serving senior officer‚ Gauteng provincial commissioner Lt-Gen Deliwe de Lange‚ had retired on Wednesday.

Ngobeni had‚ leading up to her retirement‚ been locked in an intense legal battle with police brass who had been trying to test her fitness to hold office.

Speaking to TimesLIVE on Thursday‚ Ngobeni said that she was “still engaging with the employer” and could not be drawn to comment further on the nature of her resignation or the inquiry.

Police spokesperson Brig Vish Naidoo could not be reached for comment.

Her suspension related to her links to Durban businessman Thoshan Panday and his associates‚ who reportedly paid nearly R20‚000 for her husband Lucas's birthday party in 2010.

The bash‚ thrown by Panday‚ came at a time when the controversial businessman was a suspect in a fraud investigation.

The National Prosecuting Authority had declined to prosecute her for the alleged gratification.

Ngobeni’s ties to Panday date back to the lead-up to the 2010 Fifa World Cup‚ when the businessman secured police procurement contracts and tenders worth millions.

Police discovered a startling rise in the cost of accommodation to deploy officers in operations around the province.

They found an allegedly corrupt relationship between senior officers in the supply chain management unit and a Durban businessman who was banking millions to secure accommodation as a broker or middleman.

Investigating officers uncovered what they believed to be links to the upper echelons of the provincial police.

A R1.93m draft forensic audit‚ paid for by the state‚ revealed how Panday plied key police figures‚ including Ngobeni‚ with gifts.

Charges were withdrawn against Panday and others‚ but have since been reinstated — a matter they have also decided to challenge in the courts.

In the statement issued on Thursday‚ Sitole thanked Ngobeni for her service and wished her well in her retirement. Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkwanazi has been acting in her position for several months.

In June this year it was reported that De Lange‚ who served 35 years in the police force, was reportedly pushed out of the service‚ but this decision was reversed.

On Thursday‚ she was reported as confirming that the decision to retire was hers alone.