MPs demand to know why Ramaphosa didn’t give Bheki Cele the boot when he reshuffled his cabinet

President Cyril Ramaphosa found himself defending his decision to retain Bheki Cele as minister of police despite e growing calls for his head after failing to keep South Africans safe.

Members of parliament grilled Ramaphosa during his first question and answer session in the National Assembly in Cape Town on Thursday.  

“I am confident the minister and national commissioner of police are competent and able to lead the government’s collaborative approach to building a South Africa where all people are and feel safe,” Ramaphosa told MPs. 

The first question was asked by EFF leader Julius Malema in absentia. He wanted to know whether Ramaphosa continued to have confidence in Cele’s leadership. The question comes days after Ramaphosa made changes to his national executive, filling vacancies and announcing the ministries of electricity and planning, monitoring and evaluation. 

While many of his allies were promoted, some, including Cele, were left untouched in Monday night’s reshuffle.

“Many of the factors that contribute to crime go far beyond the scope of the mandate of the department of police. The department, under the leadership of the minister, developed the integrated crime and violence prevention strategy," he said. 

The strategy complemented other interventions that respond to crime and violence, such as victim support, access to justice, improvements to policing and strengthening of the criminal justice system, he said.

The police service, he said, has also developed a national policing strategy which was approved in September last year and was being implemented. 

“The police continue to undertake targeted operations in crime hotspots. These include operations to tackle cross-border crime between Mozambique and KwaZulu-Natal and the deployment of multi-disciplinary teams to counter the recent gang-related shootings in Westbury and surrounding areas in Johannesburg. 

“The turnaround of the DNA backlog has almost been concluded and capacity at the forensic science laboratories has been enhanced,” he said. 

Ultimately, he said, crime is not only a policing issue but also a societal issue.  

“The fight against crime and violence requires great effort and focus. It needs an integrated strategy that harnesses all the capabilities of the police and criminal justice system alongside the efforts of broader society.” 

DA leader John Steenhuisen fired a salvo at Ramaphosa, saying: “Mr President, you have a police minister who can’t even catch criminals who are caught on CCTV committing murder.”  

He asked Ramaphosa how many more victims must be raped and murdered before he dismisses Cele, replacing him with someone who will take crime seriously. 

Ramaphosa responded: “One of the things this minister you want dismissed raised was the issue of the imbalance or skewed ratio between police officers and the rise in our population. 

“He raised it in cabinet and you are not in cabinet. He raised it so sharply over time and said this ratio is skewed and then showed comparisons to other countries and the penny dropped because the levels of criminality had been going up and one of the things we realised is that we have to increase the number of police.” 

Ramaphosa said this call was also made by the FF Plus’ Peter Greonewald. 

“One thing this minister has also insisted on is to have specialised units. In the past we used to have specialised units. They were disbanded but they are being brought back so the police can be more focused, effective and specialised.”  

The police will benefit from this, he said, adding “they are doing the best and some of them at really great sacrifice to themselves”  .

The ACDP’s Wayne Thring asked Ramaphosa if he will consider holding Cele and his subordinates accountable for corruption perpetrated by police officers. 

Ramaphosa said a number of high-ranking police officers have been arrested for corruption, something that did not happen in the past.

“This demonstrates our commitment to dealing with all forms of corruption, including within the ranks of the police themselves, to make sure there is good work done and accountability.” 

He said he will be the first to concede the needle was moving slower than South Africans expected, but gave assurance it will eventually move.

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