President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed national police commissioner Fannie Masemola on precautionary suspension, making him the fourth permanent head of the South African Police Service (SAPS) to be removed or suspended before completing a term in office.
Lt-Gen Puleng Dimpane has been appointed acting commissioner. She is currently CFO for the SAPS.
The move shifts operational authority at a time of heightened scrutiny over police leadership with Ramaphosa opting to allow the criminal process to take precedence over immediate executive intervention.
The decision leaves both administrative and political oversight in interim arrangements. Police minister Firoz Cachalia was appointed in an acting position by Ramaphosa in 2025 after placing Senzo Mchunu on suspension as the Madlanga commission unfolds.
The commission, headed by retired Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga and assisted by advocates Sesi Baloyi and Sandile Khumalo, was established by Ramaphosa to investigate allegations of infiltration of the country’s criminal justice system by criminal and corrupt elements.
The crisis in the police force has become messier with the deputy national commissioner for crime detection, Lt-General Shadrack Sibiya, also under suspension after allegations that he played a central role in the criminal infiltration of the SAPS.
“In consideration of the seriousness of these charges and the critical role that the national commissioner of police plays in leading the fight against crime, I have agreed with Gen Masemola that he be on precautionary suspension pending the conclusion of the case to ensure stability and continuity in the South African Police Force,” Ramaphosa said in an address to the nation on Thursday afternoon at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
The suspension takes effect immediately pending the outcome of a formal process, which is still to be determined. He declined to institute a parallel inquiry into Masemola’s fitness for office at this stage, but signalled the approach could be revisited depending on the pace of criminal proceedings.
DA leader Geordin Hill-Lewis said Ramaphosa had not contacted him when making the decision to suspend Masemola. His party is the second largest component of the government of national unity running the country. “No, the president didn’t consult me,” he toldBusiness Day.
Dimpane, who joined the SAPS in 2007 as an internal auditor, previously testified in parliament that during March 2024, when a request for a budget for deployment of the political killings task team for the 2024/25 financial year to the amount of R94m was made, she proposed only R20m be allocated in the interim and that the task team be deactivated, and a study be conducted whether a permanent structure/unit be established.
Dimpane said this was considering the department’s financial standing. By September 2025, more than R400m was spent on the team. While she made the comment as head of finance, Dimpane distanced herself from Mchunu’s decision to disband the team on December 31 2024.
Masemola appeared in the Pretoria magistrate’s court on Tuesday on four counts of contravening the Public Finance Management Act in connection with the awarding of a R360m SAPS health services tender to Medicare24 Tshwane District, a company owned by alleged organised crime boss Vusimusi “Cat” Matlala.
His case will be joined to Matlala’s and 15 co-accused in his next court appearance on May 13.
Masemola maintained his innocence after Tuesday’s appearance.
The announcement on Thursday follows weeks of public pressure after the court summons was issued in March.
Multiple political parties and civil society organisations had called for the suspension. The chair of the parliamentary portfolio committee on police, Ian Cameron, had urged the president to act without delay. The DA formally called for a fitness-of-office inquiry under the SAPS Act.
Masemola was appointed commissioner in April 2022. He had publicly stated his intention to complete his term, due to end in 2027, noting the pattern of premature departures by his predecessors.
A number of his predecessors left office under a cloud. Riah Phiyega was suspended in 2015 over the Marikana Massacre and found unfit for office.
Bheki Cele was fired in 2012 for gross misconduct related to an unlawful property lease. Jackie Selebi was convicted of corruption in 2010 and sentenced to 15 years in prison.
Political analyst Ntsikelelo Breakfast weighed in on Ramaphosa’s “family meeting”.
“It is still early days to tell, we have to apply the law and a person is innocent until proven guilty,” Breakfast said.
“There is a suggestion that the charges against him only came as a result of push back for his testimony at the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. Only time will tell the whole story.”
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