Months after the New Age first reported that national police commissioner General Bheki Cele was to be shipped off to Japan as ambassador, he remains in his post.
He now appears even cockier, telling the Sunday Independent recently that he will leave office only once his work is done.
This has proved disappointing for many South Africans who wish to see him punished for his role in the police building-lease fiasco. But even more aggrieved are senior police officials who were opposed to his appointment and have felt his heavy hand as he rang the changes in the police force. Opposition parties are also keen for a piece of his flesh.
Since reports of his deployment to Japan, another story was run in the Sunday Times saying President Jacob Zuma was about to sign his suspension letter. Sources said they had seen the letter, which they said would be signed by the end of September. The paper also reported that Zuma was about to launch an inquiry into Cele’s actions, a process that would have to be followed before any disciplinary action could be taken.
Last week the Sunday Independent quoted “impeccable” sources as saying Cele was leaving for Canada at the end of November. The paper said this was a proposal from the president, adding that Cele had accepted the posting.
Cele has since invited Sunday Independent editor Makhudu Sefara for lunch at his police-owned house on December 5, just to prove that he will still be around then.
So what is actually happening? Who is planting these stories and what should we believe? More importantly, why has no action been taken against Cele given the findings by public protector Thuli Madonsela?
Officially, Zuma has asked Cele to give him reasons why he should not be suspended, given Madonsela’s report. Cele has furnished these reasons and the president is “studying” his response, according to Mac Maharaj, the president’s spokesman.
Slow moving elephant
When ANC secretary general Gwede Mantashe referred to discipline in the ruling party recently, he likened it to an elephant, saying it moved slowly but, when it did move, it crushed with ferocity.
Is the elephant about to crush Cele? Not according to the country’s top cop. It appears that Cele and his advisers believe that the fact that there has been no finding of corruption or criminal activity on his part clears him of the cloud that hangs over his head. They also make much of the fact that there was no finding that he knew controversial property businessman Roux Shabangu before the leases were signed or that he colluded with him in arranging the leases.
What Cele seems prepared to concede is that he — at worst — committed an “administrative lapse” by not properly overseeing the signing of the leases by his juniors. That “lapse”, his advisers believe, should not warrant his being dismissed or being deployed as an ambassador.
The protector found that Cele was in breach of his duties in terms of the Constitution and the Public Finance Management Act by failing to ensure that goods were procured in accordance with a system that was transparent, competitive and cost-effective.
She also found that his defence — that he had relied on the advice and decision of supply chain management in the South African Police Service to approve a lease amounting to R1.1-billion — could not be accepted. Other key findings include that the lease agreement for the Transnet building in Durban was signed between the preferred service provider and the department of public works and not by Cele, as alleged. However, he had signed both initial and re-submitted analyses authorising funding for the Transnet building lease.
Another finding was that, although the SAPS did not sign the lease agreement, its involvement in the procurement process was improper as it went beyond the stipulated requirements — public works should have made the final decision. The protector recommended that the minister of police and the treasury should take appropriate action against all relevant officials of the SAPS who broke the law.
Cele apparently also feels there is much merit to the fact that the report recognises the need for more office space for the police, although it insists the matter was not urgent enough for deviation from normal processes.
Cele’s office also believes that the protector relied too heavily on the evidence of his immediate juniors, while at the same time describing them as unreliable witnesses.
It is not yet clear what Zuma thinks but Cele certainly believes he has made a comprehensive and compelling case to stay in his post.