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The Democratic Alliance (DA) has been reliably informed of the possibility that former National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi has not yet been formally discharged from the South African Police Service (SAPS). Selebi is also, potentially still receiving benefits from the police, among other things, as a member of PolMed, the police medical aid scheme.
The DA will accordingly submit parliamentary questions to ascertain the current status of Selebi within the SAPS and whether he is still receiving any benefits from his tenure as police chief. The DA will also request information on the amount recovered, if anything at all, of the R17.4 million paid by the State for Selebi’s legal fees.
The DA believes that Selebi should have received a dishonourable discharge following the 15-year sentence imposed after he was found guilty of corruption. In terms of section 36 of the SAPS Act, a police member who is convicted of an offence and is sentenced to a term of imprisonment without the option of a fine shall be deemed to have been discharged from the Service.
However, the SAPS Act requires that a formal board of inquiry investigate and make recommendations on the fitness of an individual to hold the office of National Police Commissioner or in instances of misconduct or incapacity by that person. This never occurred and there is the possibility that Selebi therefore still receives benefits from the police despite his criminal conviction.
It is one thing for South Africans to bear the legal costs of the disgraced former police chief, but it is an even bigger insult to the public to have to continue footing the bill for benefits to a convicted criminal.