[Debate] (Fwd) ANCorruption: Cele, Mdluli updates

[Patrick Bond]

Cele an 'active participant' in leasing scandal
JONISAYI MAROMO PRETORIA, SOUTH AFRICA - Apr 02 2012 14:42

Embattled police chief Bheki Cele breached procurement procedures by 
taking part in the "flawed leasing" of two buildings earmarked for 
police accommodation, the board of inquiry into allegations against him 
heard on Monday.

Evidence leader Mbuyiseli Madlanga dwelled on the July 5 alteration of 
initial police space requirements in a meeting between property tycoon 
Roux Shabangu, Cele and other police officials.

"General Cele wanted that particular building [Sanlam Middestad] to be 
procured for the police. He identified the building and went ahead to 
become an active participant in the leasing," said Madlanga.

"If he seriously has this attitude with regards to supply chain 
management, with all the respect that is due to him, we submit that he 
is a menace when it comes to compliance with the Public Finance 
Management Act and treasury regulations."

Madlanga said there was an "unexplained relationship" between Cele and 
Shabangu, which made Cele "compliant to all things Shabangu said".

The unexplained relationship was an undeclared conflict of interest, he 
submitted.

Corruption
"Despite having signed a document authorising the procurement of 21 000 
square metres, General Cele was going along with his purpose, which was 
to meet Shabangu's needs," said Madlanga.

The space requirement was amended to 25 000 square metres.

Madlanga dismissed suggestions by Cele's defence team that former deputy 
police commissioner Hamilton Hlela had not accused Cele of corruption.

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This was up to the inquiry to decide, he said.

"General Hlela's role was to give evidence and the board is mandated to 
decide on that," he said.

Madlanga said Cele had acted dishonestly by not telling Hlela, the 
former police procurement head, the name of the person who was going to 
call him about the accommodation procurement.

"It was a calculated move by General Cele. He did not tell General Hlela 
that Mr Shabangu owns a building and he will call you to discuss 
procurement processes.

'Cagey'
"He was a bit cagey about the identity of the person who would call. 
That is why he didn't say who was going to contact General Hlela.

"General's Cele's approach [in relation to the two leases] seems to be 
that he does not have any insight to his responsibilities. He must make 
sure that from any angle, he is not party to any improper procurement 
process.

"In this case, he did not only partake in the procurement process, he 
actually initiated and participated at every step of the way."

Madlanga said that apart from misconduct, the "gross breach of the 
Public Finance Management Act alone warrants the board to recommend 
Cele's removal from office".

He argued that the South African Police Service, as an interested party 
in the accommodation procurement lease, "cannot wash its hands and let 
the responsibility of stopping the horse from bolting" fall to the 
public works department alone.

Madlanga said Cele had tried to "wiggle himself out" of responsibility 
during public protector Thuli Madonsela's probe into the leasing of 
Transnet building in Durban.

"The public protector, however, managed to puncture holes throughout his 
[Cele's] testimony. She demonstrates that his version was lacking in 
truthfulness," said Madlanga.

He criticised Cele's evidence that he had invited the Special 
Investigating Unit to investigate when he realised that there was 
improper conduct in the police procurement chain.

The board of inquiry, appointed by President Jacob Zuma and chaired by 
Judge Jake Moloi, is mandated to establish whether Cele acted corruptly, 
dishonestly, or with an undeclared conflict of interest in relation to 
two police lease deals signed with Shabangu.

It also has to determine his fitness to hold office, and his capacity to 
efficiently execute his duties.

Such misconduct could warrant a recommendation for his dismissal. -- Sapa


***

‘I will quit over Mdluli’
2012-04-01 10:00


Adriaan Basson

South Africa’s acting police chief is threatening to quit after being 
ordered by Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa to lift the suspension of 
corruption-implicated crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli.

A “devastated” Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the acting 
national commissioner, is waiting to attend a meeting with President 
Jacob Zuma, where he is expected to discuss vacating his job.

Sources close to this week’s dramatic reinstatement of Mdluli and Major 
General Solly Lazarus, the controversial head of finance at crime 
intelligence, have told City Press that Mkhwanazi was shocked at the 
level of political interference in the case.

“Nobody knows what will happen next. People are frightened. What will 
happen to those who investigated Mdluli?” said a senior police source.

Mkhwanazi was committed to cleaning up crime intelligence, which has 
been embroiled in a scandal over the abuse of a R200 million secret 
“slush fund”.

City Press can also reveal that:
» Mdluli was not only reinstated to his old job, but was given the 
Presidential Protection Unit and the Protection and Security Services 
Unit. These units control the protection of Zuma and his ministers;

» This in effect gives Mdluli access to and control over the movements 
of all members of Zuma’s Cabinet, including those who will oppose his 
candidacy at the ANC’s national conference in December; and

» A showdown looms in the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) between 
prosecutors in charge of Mdluli’s case and senior NPA bosses, who again 
have refused to prosecute Mdluli.

Mkhwanazi declined to comment on whether he was told by Mthethwa to 
reinstate Mdluli and if he would stay on in the police.

City Press revealed last week that the Inspector General of 
Intelligence, Advocate Faith Radebe, had advised Mkhwanazi in a letter 
to reinstate charges of fraud and corruption against Mdluli.

This had massive aftershocks, all pointing to a concerted effort by 
senior politicians close to Zuma to protect Mdluli and get him back into 
the police.

Informed sources in the police, NPA and justice cluster told City Press:
» Shortly after writing to Mkhwanazi that criminal charges against 
Mdluli should be reinstated, Radebe was put under “massive pressure” by 
“senior ministers” to withdraw her letter;

» Radebe “was traumatised to the point of crying”;

» Mkhwanazi refused to hand back the letter, telling Radebe she had 
acted in accordance with the law and they had to do “the right thing”;

» On Tuesday, Mthethwa called Radebe and Mkhwanazi to a meeting at which 
he ordered Mkhwanazi to lift Mdluli’s suspension and told Radebe to 
withdraw her letter;

» Radebe, under tremendous political pressure, told Mthethwa she had 
requested Mkhwanazi to give back the letter after receiving a call from 
“number one” (presumably a reference to Zuma), but he refused; and

» Mkhwanazi told Mthethwa he would not lift Mdluli’s suspension and 
would rather resign than be forced to do so.

Mthethwa told Mkhwanazi that he didn’t appoint him – Zuma did – and that 
only the president could accept his resignation. Zuma was in India this 
week attending a Brics summit.

Mkhwanazi, under protest, proceeded to lift the suspensions of Mdluli 
and Lazarus, but insisted that his name should not be associated with 
the decision.

On Wednesday, a day after the meeting with Mthethwa, the police released 
a terse statement saying “a decision was taken to lift the suspension of 
Mdluli and Lazarus concurrently”. The statement did not say who took the 
decision.

Yesterday, Mthethwa’s spokesperson, Zweli Mnisi, denied the minister 
instructed Mkhwanazi to reinstate Mdluli and Lazarus, saying he didn’t 
suspend them in the first place and “police management”, led by 
Mkhwanazi, handled departmental processes.

He confirmed that Mthethwa met the “entire management of the police” on 
Tuesday to discuss “policing matters”.

Zuma’s spokesperson, Mac Maharaj, on Friday vehemently denied any 
involvement by the president in getting Mdluli back into the police and 
said Zuma never called Radebe.

NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga yesterday confirmed that Advocate 
Lawrence Mrwebi, head of the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit, would 
not prosecute Mdluli for fraud, even though Radebe advised him to do so.

This could place Mrwebi on a collision course with advocates Sibongile 
Mzinyathi, director of public prosecutions for North Gauteng, and 
Glynnis Breytenbach, head of the Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit in 
North Gauteng, who apparently believed that they had a rock-solid case 
and that charges against Mdluli should be reinstated.

“Advocate Mrwebi has already made his decision on the matter and we 
indicated that he considered insufficiency of evidence that would 
sustain a conviction in conjunction with representations made by 
Mdluli’s legal representatives,” Mhaga said.

Mrwebi again advised the police to refer the matter to Radebe’s office, 
even though she had already said she did not have the powers to 
investigate Mdluli’s alleged criminality.

- City Press

***

Acting police commissioner stays put
  JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Apr 01 2012 14:58

Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi remains acting police commissioner 
despite media reports of his imminent resignation, his spokesperson said 
on Sunday.

Brigadier Lindela Mashigo said he could not comment on a City Press 
report that Mkhwanazi intended meeting with President Jacob Zuma to 
tender his resignation.

"I am well aware of the writing [in the newspaper] ... I have no 
comment, but to accompany my 'no comment' I am saying that he is still 
in place as acting national commissioner," Mashigo said.

He also declined to comment on reports that Mkhwanazi objected to the 
reinstatement of crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli and finance head 
Major-General Solly Lazarus. Their suspensions were lifted last week.

The City Press reported that Mkhwanazi was "shocked" at political 
interference around the issue.

On Friday, the presidency denied that Zuma had interfered with a 
corruption probe into Mdluli's affairs or his reinstatement and said it 
was an internal police matter.

Urging a rethink
It also denied that Zuma had asked Inspector General of Intelligence 
Faith Radebe to rethink her decision to hand over the Mdluli 
investigation to the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA).

Mdluli was suspended in May after murder charges were laid against him.

Following this, fresh charges relating to fraud and corruption in the 
abuse of crime intelligence funds were levelled at both Mdluli and 
Lazarus but these were provisionally withdrawn.


In February, the NPA announced that the best way to deal with the murder 
charges against Mdluli was through a formal inquest and not a trial.

On Sunday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said neither Mdluli nor Lazarus 
should be reinstated until public protector Thuli Madonsela had 
completed an investigation into the matter.

DA police spokesperson Dianne Kohler-Barnard said she would write to 
Madonsela to request an investigation.

Plundering
The investigation should also look at the reasons for the scrapping of 
the police's internal disciplinary process against Mdluli.

Kohler-Barnard said it was alleged in a report, compiled by senior crime 
intelligence Majors-General Chris de Kock and Mark Hankel and submitted 
to Radebe in November, that Mdluli plundered the crime intelligence unit.

It was further alleged that Mdluli's family members had been drafted 
into the crime intelligence agent programme but had not undertaken 
undercover operations.

In the report, Mdluli was accused of abusing a Durban travel agent when 
he and his family travelled more than 50 times at the state's expense.

Also, a journalist was allegedly paid R100 000 to write a positive story 
about the police, and another was allegedly paid R50 000 not to publish 
a story about a senior police official.

The DA was "adamant" that Mdluli should answer for these allegations in 
court, she said. -- Sapa