Farouk Chothia
TENSIONS surfaced between kwaZulu/Natal safety and=20 security MEC Celani Mtetwa and his colleagues in the=20 Inkatha Freedom Party over the planned graduation today=20 of about 500 recruits into the kwaZulu Police (KZP).
Although he has a reputation as a hardliner, Mtetwa has=20 taken a softer line than IFP national parliamentarians=20 Velaphi Ndlovu and Philip Powell in the clash with=20 Safety and Security Minister Sydney Mufamadi.
In an interview on Thursday, Powell conceded: “It is=20 normal healthy tensions … It is reflected in the=20 difference between parliament and the executive.”=20 Powell said it was easier for him and Ndlovu to respond=20 to Mufamadi than it was for Mtetwa as he was possibly=20 “trammelled” by his executive responsibilities.=20
ANC kwaZulu/Natal safety and security spokesman Bheki=20 Cele accused the IFP of once more “politicising” the=20 issue of policing — and warned that recruitment of the=20 men could further tarnish the image of the force in the=20 volatile province.=20
While Ndlovu announced on Wednesday evening that the=20 graduation ceremony will go ahead in defiance of an=20 order by both Mufamadi and new South African Police=20 Services Commissioner General George Fivas, Mtetwa=20 refused to immediately endorse Ndlovu’s position.=20
Instead, Mtetwa was locked in a meeting in Ulundi on=20 Thursday with KZP acting commissioner Brigadier Patrick=20 Como Mzimela to discuss the issue before taking a final=20
The dilemma facing Mtetwa on Thursday was: should he go=20 ahead with the recruitment — only to find Fivas=20 ordering non-payment of salaries and refusing to=20 incorporate them into the South African Police Services=20 once the KZP is disbanded? =20
With the support of Ndlovu and Powell, Mtetwa had=20 earlier offered a compromise — one that would have=20 seen those with criminal records excluded from the=20 graduation ceremony — but this was rejected by=20
Powell accused Mufamadi and Fivas yesterday of adopting=20 a “kragdadigheid” attitude in failing to engage in=20 “dialogue” with a view to finding an amicable=20
Mufamadi’s spokesman Craig Kotze warned that if=20 enrolled, the estimated 500 men could be guilty of the=20 “punishable offence” of “impersonating” police=20
A source close to Fivas said the new commissioner was=20 in a stronger position than his predecessor, General=20 Johann van der Merwe: Fivas has “executive authority”=20 over all policemen in the country in terms of President=20 Nelson Mandela’s proclamation last Sunday — unlike Van=20 der Merwe who had authority over only the SAP.
But Powell insisted that the recruits had to be=20 enrolled as they were former “special constables” of=20 the kZP — and an SAP “directive” last year called for=20 all “special constables” to be made full members of the=20
He added that as the recruits were members of a “former=20 administration”, Fivas and Mufamadi could be challenged=20 in the constitutional court for infringing their=20 constitutional right to employment in the new order.