Yet another senior police general has held a media conference making serious allegations regarding corruption, fraud and political interference in the SAPS.
Suspended Mpumalanga police commissioner Lieutenant-General Daphney Manamela followed in the footsteps of her KwaZulu-Natal counterpart, General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, in choosing a quiet Sunday morning to hold a televised media briefing where she made serious allegations against her colleagues and political leaders.
Among her claims is that senior police bosses received millions of rand in bribes to block an investigation into a corruption-scandal-related murder.
She also accused a former police minister of interfering in the police’s operational duties in relation to politically sensitive cases in Mpumalanga.
Of course, her allegations cannot be taken at face value, especially because she is suspended on serious charges and may have an axe to grind with those who she blames for her suspension.
However, the experience of the past year has taught us that, when it comes to the SAPS and other law-enforcement agencies, no accusation should be dismissed without proper investigation.
If evidence presented at the Madlanga commission, appointed after Mkhwanazi’s July 6 media conference, is anything to go by, the police service is rotten, and a clean-up is only possible if all alleged impropriety by its management is properly probed.
It is for this reason that we believe that, on his return from Spain, President Cyril Ramaphosa should consider extending the terms of reference of the Madlanga commission to include possible police management shenanigans in Mpumalanga.
This, unfortunately, may further lengthen the commission’s tenure.
But this is preferable to ignoring the serious accusations that are being made by Manamela.
Since its establishment, the commission has uncovered evidence that has already led to the arrest of key figures so there should be no fear that adding a new leg to its probe may delay the wheels of justice.
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