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It has been confirmed that suspended Crime Intelligence Head Lieutenant General Richard Mdluli and suspended finance head of crime intelligence Major General Solomon Lazarus were operating without security clearance for over a year.

The reply to my Parliamentary question to the Minister of Police states that Mdluli’s security clearance expired on 14 February 2011 and his application for renewal was only received on 11 March 2011. Mdluli’s application had, apparently, been kept on hold. Lazarus’s security clearance expired on 6 December 2010 and was never renewed because he failed to provide the correct information.

In May this year, President Zuma said there was “no need for alarm” around the Crime Intelligence unit. On the contrary, the DA would say that there is a great need for alarm when two of its highest ranking officials had been operating without security clearance for years. Both Mdluli and Lazarus are under investigation for bribery, corruption and the misuse of public funds. Mdluli is facing criminal charges including assault, kidnapping and murder. The investigation has been going on for months now, with no outcome in sight. Some of these abuses may have been preventable, if appropriate vetting and security procedures were followed.

The very fact that Lazarus never had his security clearance renewed should have had alarm bells ringing for the Minister. Did he not hear them?

This is further evidence of the massive rot within the Crime Intelligence Unit under this Minister’s watch, about which he has seemingly done absolutely nothing. Indeed, he attempted to save Mdluli by simply moving him elsewhere, thinking that cosmetic attention would hide the truth from the South African public. Why is the Minister so desperate to protect Richard Mdluli?

I will today be writing to the Inspector General of Intelligence to ask that the investigation into Mdluli and Lazarus be extended to include how it was that they were allowed to operate as heads of the Crime Intelligence Unit without the necessary security clearance, and how long this investigation is expected to take.