A suspected robber is shot with rubber bullets by Ekurhuleni Metro Police (EMPD) officers while patrolling a flooded mall in Vosloorus, on July 13, 2021. (Photo by MARCO LONGARI / AFP)
MAccusations of corruption have surfaced in the police crime intelligence unit, amid claims that the division was “unprepared” to prevent violence in the protests and strikes that will begin on Friday, which led to a national blockade called the EFF.
National spokeswoman Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said this week that police would not “discuss operational plans” publicly, but that officers had been told to use “minimum force” to handle the action.
Some sources with knowledge of the police crime intelligence unit said infighting related to the mismanagement of the division’s resources, including the R54 million spyware corruption case that was before the court, has preoccupied the unit so much that it has not been collected information about possible instigators of the protest. .
Brigadier Tiyani Hlungwani, the finance chief responsible for the controversial secret service account, accused the head of crime intelligence Lieutenant General Dumisani Khumalo of being part of a “cover-up” in a criminal case involving an associate of Police Minister Bheki Cele, Inbanathan Kistiah. .
Secret service accounts are used to, among other functions, pay and house police informants.
In a statement on March 3, Hlungwani claimed Khumalo “persecuted him” to give evidence to Kistiah, who faces fraud and corruption charges related to a R54.2 million contract in December 2016 to provide spyware to monitor protesting students.
Former national commissioner Khomotso Phahlane; Lieutenant Colonel Godfrey Mahwayi, the suspended crime intelligence IT section commander; Major General Maanda Nemutanzhela, who heads secret intelligence; and Major General Mankosana Makhele, head of Free State crime intelligence, have been charged with Kistiah.
“The reason why Lieutenant General Khumalo is chasing me is because I have opened several criminal cases against me. [former crime intelligence head] Peter Jacobs, Mr. Inban Kistiah and several other senior officials, and I have made some protected disclosures to Lieutenant General Jacobs that have influence on Minister Hamilton Cele,” said Hlubwani, in a document that has been seen by the Mail. & Guardian.
At the time of going to print, the police ministry had yet to respond to questions about Cele’s involvement with Khumalo in what Hlungwani claimed was a corruption cover-up.
A well-placed source, who asked to remain anonymous, told the M&G this week that infighting in the crime intelligence has seen the division “do not communicate with its assets (informants) to get information about possible instigators of violence”.
This is more, the source added, because the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) have not publicly announced the form of the protest on Monday, which calls for the total shutdown of economic and social services throughout the country.
“Criminal intelligence does not know where EFF people will meet. It is unusual because when there is a strike, we know where people will be picked up, and what their final destination will be,” said the source.
“The ongoing battle over corruption will certainly affect our operational work and we will be reactive to violence due to the lack of reliable information.”
Mathe, speaking on behalf of national commissioner Fannie Masemola, said the police operational structure responsible for large gatherings, known as Natjoints, was aware of Monday’s “planned protest” and not a “national shutdown”.
“We assure everyone in South Africa that there are measures in place to ensure the safety and security of everyone in the planned protest. We do not discuss operational plans and decisions in the public domain,” said Mathe.
“Law enforcement agencies will carry out their duties within the limits of the law. All law enforcement agencies will apply the minimum force that is reasonable and necessary, depending on the situation on the ground.
In February last year, a report commissioned by President Cyril Ramaphosa into the July 2021 riots found the country’s intelligence services were unprepared to prevent or prevent the riots, which resulted in more than 340 deaths.
“The fact that no organizers or real instigators of violence have been arrested is a problem. If there is intelligence as shown by the intelligence services, the president must address the systemic weaknesses that could cause the intelligence to escape the review,” read the report.
Meanwhile, Hlungwani confirmed in a statement that he is a “witness” in the R54 million spyware case, which is being investigated by the Independent Police Investigation Directorate.
According to evidence before the court, Brainwave, the company of which Kistiah is a director, received a monthly contract of more than R1.1 million in December 2016 to provide spyware to monitor students protesting under the #FeesMustFall banner. The students must be observed for seven months.
Documents dated August 2021 show Brainwave pocketed more than R54.2 million from just seven invoices, the lowest for more than R3.6 million and the highest for more than R8.4 million.
The spy equipment will be used “to monitor the social media activities” of the students.