Deputy national police commissioner Lt-Gen Bonang Mgwenya, who was fired on Friday, has described her disciplinary hearing as illegal and unlawful.
National police commissioner Gen Khehla Sitole announced that he had sacked his deputy, who is facing criminal charges including money laundering and fraud, after she was found guilty at an internal disciplinary hearing.
Mgwenya was suspended after her arrest last month by officers from the Investigating Directorate (ID).
She appeared in the Palm Ridge magistrate’s court in October in relation to the alleged role she played in ensuring the appointment of a handpicked service provider for the installation of emergency lights on 1,500 police vehicles in Gauteng.
Mgwenya was the head of the police human resources division and allegedly ensured the appointment of officers to the police supply chain management division to ensure the specifications for the tender were compiled in such a way that the service provider was awarded to contract.
Mgwenya, in return, allegedly received financial assistance to purchase a BMW X5.
In a letter written by Mgwenya’s lawyers to the chairperson of the disciplinary hearing, she described the process as “unlawful and irregular” and claimed the investigation had “not been done independently”.
“The disciplinary investigation in respect of the charges brought against the employee has not been conducted in terms of the SA Police Service disciplinary regulations and is thus irregular and unlawful.”
A police officer, assigned to investigate her for the disciplinary hearing, was accused of having done a “copy and paste” of the ID’s investigation report.
“The investigation is based on external sources, and hence the investigation is not actually done by an employee [police officer].”
Mgwenya also claimed the suspension notice issued against her, listing the police regulations she allegedly breached, was different to the disciplinary hearing notice issued to her.
“None of the regulations contained in the employee’s letter of suspension that she is alleged have breached are contained in the employee’s disciplinary notice.”
Her lawyer stated this allegedly prejudiced Mgwenya as she was suspended “for different conduct as alleged in the notice to attend a disciplinary [hearing]; and it was unclear as to what charges she must defend against”.
Mgwenya accused the internal investigator of also failing to compile a full report, with the charges against her described as “vague, embarrassingly thin and lacking sufficient detail”.
Police spokesperson Brig Vish Naidoo said about Mgwenya’s dismissal: “The national police commissioner remains resolute in his efforts to clean the SAPS of any form of wrongdoing by members of all ranks.”
