President Cyril Ramaphosa has placed national police commissioner Fannie Masemola on precautionary suspension.
Ramaphosa on Thursday named SAPS divisional commissioner for financial services Puleng Dimpane as the acting national police commissioner.
Ramaphosa said he took this decision given the seriousness of the charges Masemola is facing.
“I have agreed with Gen Masemola that he be deemed to be on precautionary suspension pending the conclusion of the case,” said Ramaphosa.
“To ensure stability and continuity in the South African Police Force, I have appointed Lt-Gen Puleng Dimpane as the Acting National Commissioner of Police.”
Ramaphosa was joined by acting police minister Firoz Cachalia and his two deputies, Cassel Mathale and Polly Boshielo, at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
This comes after Masemola was charged with contravening the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) for failing to cancel Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala’s R360m SAPS contract before any payments were made to him. By the time the contract was cancelled, Matlala’s company, Medicare24, had already been paid R50m.
Masemola appeared in court this week, where the state decided that he will now appear alongside Matlala and his co-accused at his next appearance.
Matlala has been under lock and key at the Kgosi Mampuru Correctional Centre in Pretoria.
Masemola is facing four counts of contravening the PFMA as the accounting officer of SAPS. One of the charges he faces is that he failed to screen Medicare24 before it received the tender.
Ramaphosa has been under pressure to suspend Masemola since his first court appearance.
Chairperson of the portfolio committee on police Ian Cameron urged Ramaphosa to act without delay in suspending Masemola in order to protect credibility of SAPS.
“The continued hesitation to act decisively is no longer tenable. At a time when South Africans are under siege from crime, uncertainty at the very top of SAPS is unacceptable,” Cameron said this week.
“The president must act now, suspend the national commissioner, and appoint a credible acting leader immediately.”
Ramaphosa said his decision to place Masemola on suspension is in line with his state of the nation address where he declared that the country would be stepping up the fight against organised crime, with the Madlanga commission being a big part of this move.
“For this fight to be successful I said that it is vital that our law enforcement agencies are capable, ethical and effective,” said Ramaphosa.
TimesLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.