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President Zuma needs to address potential threats to the board of inquiry appointed to investigate the conduct of suspended National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele.

On Tuesday, I wrote to President Zuma to request the following:

That he provide clarity on the appointment of the relatively inexperienced Major General Mkhwanazi as the new National Police Commissioner

That he considers extending the terms of reference of the inquiry to include the financial mismanagement that took place at the SAPS under Bheki Cele’s leadership.

I will today be writing to President Zuma to ask that he also addresses the following issues:

The questionable action taken by Police Spokesperson, Major-General Nonkululeko Mbatha. Mbatha abused her position and state resources by sending an email to the entire SAPS mailing list in defence of Cele. In so doing, Major-General Mbatha risked defeating the ends of justice and prejudicing the outcome of the board’s investigation. In addition, she undermined the Office of the Public Protector, calling her findings against Cele “downright lies” being driven by people who were “secretly pushing propaganda for criminals or speaking on their behalf.”

Concerns that the current chair of the board of inquiry may not be mandated to conduct the investigation. The chair is a retired Constitutional Court judge and not a sitting Supreme Court judge. This is a possible contravention of the South African Police Service Act. Failure to meet the requirements of the Act means that the board of inquiry’s findings could be open to a legal and constitutional challenge.

The President must urgently address these issues to avoid undermining the credibility of the inquiry.

The South African people deserve answers, and not the further obstruction of justice due to technical and procedural issues. The President must ensure that the board of inquiry is properly and lawfully constituted and effectively empowered to provide clarity on the conduct of Bheki Cele.

The SAPS cannot afford another long period of instability and uncertainty.