Accused: General Fannie Masemola allegedly interfered in awarding tenders and appointing police officials. Photo: Darren Stewart/Gallo Images
The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) has been dragged into a battle involving the top echelons of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and Police Minister Bheki Cele.
The Mail & Guardian has a copy of a protected disclosure document written by deputy national police commissioner Lieutenant General Francinah Vuma to President Cyril Ramaphosa in which she details alleged interference by Cele and national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola in awarding contracts and appointing high-ranking police officials.
Vuma makes damning claims that Cele and the deputy police minister, Cassel Mathale, have an acrimonious relationship that has resulted in mistrust over awarding contracts to service providers.
In her testimony, dated 6 July and sent to Ramaphosa, the head of parliament’s committee on police Tina Joemat-Pettersson, the head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (the Hawks) General Godfrey Lebeya and the head of the National Prosecuting Authority’s Investigating Directorate (ID) advocate Andrea Johnson, Vuma alleges that after her department awarded a large portion of the RT15 transversal contract for mobile communication services to MTN, Cele told her that the selection of MTN was at the behest of Mathale, who he said wanted to fund the EFF.
Vuma said tensions rose over the contract after Cele instructed her during a March meeting of the minister and members of executive council (Minmec) to liaise with Mathale and the implementing agent, the Independent Development Trust (IDT), to assist the police to roll out its infrastructure development programme.
“When I eventually presented information for the approval of the national commissioner he unexpectedly told me to be careful of the deputy minister who he said wants to swindle money out of the IDT project in order to fund the EFF,” Vuma says in the protected disclosure.
“I informed the national commissioner that I don’t want to mix my responsibilities with politics and that I wasn’t aware of any evidence to suggest what he was insinuating.
“During the Minmec meeting that was held in East London on 10 June 2022, I presented the status of the IDT project and highlighted the fact that the document was ready and waiting for the national commissioner’s approval.
“On 1 July 2022, while we were in Limpopo, the national commissioner instructed that I should remove from my submission a paragraph that refers to the fact that the directive was actually made by the minister. I tried to explain to the national commissioner that doing so will not be an honest, accurate depiction of what happened,” she said.
Vuma said Cele had slammed her during a meeting at Wonderboom Air Wing in April for having awarded the contract to MTN instead of Vodacom. She claims that Cele relayed his frustration that MTN board chair and former finance minister Mcebisi Jonas had contacted him, wondering why the telecommunications company had been awarded the contract ahead of Vodacom, despite not having the infrastructure that its rival had.
Vuma said she explained that due process was followed in the awarding of the contract as far as the bid adjudication committee, adding that the voice part of the contract was still under evaluation.
EFF spokesperson Sinawo Thambo denied the party’s involvement with police contracts. “It is clear that Bheki Cele is corrupt and was using a nonexistent threat of the EFF to secure tenders and attempt to intimidate Lt Gen Vuma.
“She is being persecuted for resisting pressure to be complicit in corruption and Cele, along with the national commissioner, tried to drag her into their quest to loot, using the name of the EFF and she resisted that. The EFF has no role to play in tenders of SAPS, and we are vindicated in our long-held claim that Cele is destroying the police department through factionalism, politics and corruption,” Thambo said.
This is not the first time the EFF has been caught up in police battles. Cele accused former police commissioner Khehla Sitole of having plotted with the EFF to remove him from his position. During a parliamentary debate on Ramaphosa’s state of the nation address, Cele said, “On 10 of December 2020 there was a meeting between yourself [Julius Malema] and the national commissioner, and the plan and the plot were hatched that I must be chased [out of cabinet].”
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