South Africa’s embattled police force on Monday sought to reassure the crime-ridden country after a weekend that saw its police chief placed on extended leave in a widening corruption scandal.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) was under intense public scrutiny before it was disclosed last week that Jackie Selebi, police National Commissioner for almost eight years, would face charges of corruption and defeating the course of justice.
Selebi, who denies any wrongdoing, is a lightning rod for those frustrated with the force’s inability to curtail a plague of murders, rapes, carjackings and house break-ins that have made the nation one of the most dangerous in the world.
President Thabo Mbeki had backed the 57-year-old Selebi until Saturday when he put the police chief on an open-ended leave. Selebi stepped down the following day as president of international crime-fighting body Interpol.
Acting commissioner of police Tim Williams and the rest of the police top management on Monday sought to assure the public that crime-fighting would continue in the absence of Selebi.
”The management forum would like to assure the communities of South Africa that the SAPS will continue to meet the obligations and responsibilities entrusted to us in terms of the Constitution and the South African Police Service Act,” the forum said in a statement issued by the Office of the National Police Commissioner.
”Policing will continue and members of the SAPS at all levels are encouraged to focus on delivering service to the communities to ensure public safety,” it said.
Williams was appointed acting police national commissioner on Saturday following the revelation on Friday that the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) was ready to charge Selebi with corruption and defeating the course of justice.
The police said Williams had acted in the post of national commissioner in the past, as had the four other deputy national commissioners.
”[He] intends to ensure that policing duties continue normally and that we remain focused on our priorities,” the forum said.
”We will communicate that the work must go on, that we must work hard and continue to serve the people of South Africa,” police spokesperson Sally de Beer said, without offering details.
Change of guard
Analysts, however, said a changing of the guard appeared to be on the cards for the police, with it looking unlikely Selebi would return even if cleared of the accusations against him.
Selebi could appear in court this week to face the charges, some of which are connected to his friendship with Glenn Agliotti, a convicted drug smuggler accused of playing a role in the 2005 gangland-style murder of South African mining tycoon Brett Kebble.
”I don’t think it will be good for Selebi to come back,” said Johan Burger, a senior researcher with South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria. ”I think that he has suffered too much damage to his reputation.”
Burger added that the challenge facing Selebi’s successor was twofold: boosting internal morale and restoring public confidence in the police, which has undergone a transformation since the end of the apartheid era in 1994 to make it more reflective of the country’s racial make-up.
Police in South Africa often complain of poor equipment, lack of resources and scanty support from the public. Murders of police officers are common, as are suicides and murder-suicides in officers’ homes.
Whoever succeeds Selebi also may have to mend fences with the elite FBI-style Scorpions crime unit, which has waged a turf war with the police and has been accused of abusing its power, including going after Selebi for partisan reasons.
The Scorpions report to the NPA, though there are rumblings they could be disbanded or integrated into the SAPS.
Separate corruption charges against Gerrie Nel, a senior Scorpions official leading the case against Selebi, were dropped on Monday. Nel was arrested last week, sparking claims that he had been targeted in retaliation for investigating Selebi.
”It appears that the SAPS acted with the clear intent to intimidate and send a public message about who is really in control,” said Dianne Kohler Barnard, a member of parliament for the opposition Democratic Alliance.
The cases have fuelled speculation of political intervention in the justice system. Supporters of African National Congress leader Jacob Zuma have repeatedly accused Mbeki senior aides of trying to smear Zuma with corruption charges.
Zuma, who defeated Mbeki in the ANC leadership vote last month, is scheduled to go to trial in August. — Reuters, Sapa