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Peter Jacobs. (Jan Gerber, News24)
- Just two days after SAPS national and provincial Criminal Intelligence commanders were assured that there was no crisis, five senior division commanders were suspended.
- A high-level criminal intelligence source raised concerns about the power vacuum and lack of experience to ensure that operations continue to function normally.
- The suspensions are apparently linked to the reasons given for the removal of Peter Jacobs, but they have effectively removed foolproof controls on access to secret funds.
The national criminal intelligence (CI) division of the police has plunged deeper into a leadership crisis with the suspensions of five high-ranking officers on Wednesday and Thursday.
The purge of those close to the levers of power comes less than a week after Police Commissioner General Khehla Sitole decided to suspend CI Chief Lieutenant General Peter Jacobs, and just two days after National Commissioner Deputy Major General Sindile Mfazi assured CI commanders across the country that there was “no crisis.”
READ | ‘No Crisis’: Senior SAPS Official Tells Intelligence Chiefs Amid Peter Jacobs Suspension Row
Three criminal intelligence sources with direct knowledge of the suspensions confirmed that the Chief Financial Officer, Major General Josias Lekalakala, as well as the Chief of Intelligence and Monitoring Plan, Brigadier Deon Lombard, had received suspension letters on Thursday.
Three other colonels from the unit’s administrative arm were suspended along with them.
Sources told News24 that the leaders’ bloodbath was related to the use of the Secret Services Account, a shady fund used to finance undercover operations and pay informants, which had been used to purchase equipment from Covid-19 personal protection.
All are understood to face misconduct charges related to this R1 million purchase, while Lombard and Lekalakala face additional charges for the approval of a planning document that, Sitole alleged in its suspension notice to Jacobs, Lombard did not have the experience authority to pass.
Jacobs, in representations he made in opposition to his suspension, said the charges were an afterthought to a longstanding dispute with Deputy National Commissioner Sindile Mfazi, who has since stepped into the void and taken over. the division.
Another source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, called the suspensions a takeover with the aim of taking control of intelligence-gathering operations and the bribery fund.
When approached for comment, Mfazi directed questions to the police spokesman, Brigadier Vishnu Naidoo.
Naidoo said: “SAPS member suspension issues, should they occur, are internal and therefore cannot be discussed in the public domain.”
“I am not free to confirm or deny the issues raised in your questions,” he added.
The avalanche of suspensions has vacated offices that are critical to the operation of the Criminal Intelligence Unit, the sources said, adding that it threatened to halt operations.
“Everyone involved in the administration of the SSA [Secret Services Account] now they are too afraid to sign or approve something for fear of being nailed by the egos of others, “said a source.
READ | ‘Sick leave’ delays suspension of police criminal intelligence chief
News24 previously reported that Jacobs had received a notice of intent to suspend him on November 30 and had responded with protests on December 3, in which he denied the allegations against him.
His representations paint a picture of the fractured relationships between him and Mfazi. As deputy national commissioner for crime detection, Jacobs reports to Mfazi.
Jacobs described how he had repeatedly denounced Mfazi’s alleged “intimidation and harassment,” and what Jacobs interpreted as a death threat from Mfazi, to SAPS bosses, with nothing being done to address his concerns.
The intelligence chief responded to the allegations of embezzlement, insisting that the purchase of PPE using the Secret Services Account had its roots in politics.
“The employer has not presented the case for suspension. In my response, I made the case for why it should not be suspended, and argued that there are possibly ulterior motives,” Jacobs’ remarks read.
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