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Police Minister Bheki Cele.
- Police Minister Bheki Cele says the entire justice sector is needed to confront the gangsters who “co-rule” the country.
- He is waiting for a report on why Detective Charl Kinnear did not receive protection before speaking out on the case.
- He says there seems to be a growing relationship between gangsterism in the Western Cape and Gauteng.
South Africa cannot be allowed to appear to be “co-ruled by unelected gangsters,” said Police Minister Bheki Cele, urging the justice sector to back down.
Cele was interviewed by News24 editor-in-chief Adriaan Basson on a live broadcast on Friday morning, where he said the rot in the Western Cape runs deep, insofar as there appears to be not only collusion with the police and gangsters, but also prosecutors.
“If we have to send the trains and buses to carry those cops [in the Western Cape] to Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Northwest, and take others there, let it be, “said Cele.
He said the depth of the problem in the Western Cape requires not only police action, but “everyone must get on board” and the community must “free itself from the clutches of gangsters.”
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The scope of the problem is perhaps best illustrated by the recent murder of Detective Charl Kinnear.
Kinnear was allegedly killed on his way home to Bishop Lavis, Cape Town, on September 18. He was reportedly close to a breakthrough in a “guns against gangs” syndicate with his tentacles in the police Central Firearms Register (CFR). This is seen as a threat to the dark underworld and corrupt police officers.
News24 previously reported that he had received several threats against his life. He reported that a criminal intelligence element was involved. However, its protection was withdrawn in December last year.
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In a briefing by the Police Portfolio Committee on Tuesday, Lt. Gen. Khehla Sitole said that according to the current policy framework of the police, the person with the authority to withdraw protection is the police commissioner.
However, Kinnear was not under formally approved protection.
He said that when a threat to an officer is perceived, the officer is placed in preliminary protection, while criminal intelligence investigates whether it is low, medium or high risk. Once this determination is made, the official is placed under the necessary protection, with the approval of the national commissioner.
Sitole said he appointed a lieutenant general to investigate why Kinnear was not protected and has received a preliminary report. He said the final report is still awaited, at which point more light will be shed on why Kinnear was not receiving protection.
Deny
On Friday, Cele again said that Kinnear was not under formal protection, but also said: “I refuse to accept that answer,” adding that he also refuses to comment on the matter until the report is finalized.
He said that if criminals with grenades were found hanging around his house, he would expect to receive protection.
“But I don’t want to get ahead of the issues surrounding the matter.”
He said there have also been threats to detectives investigating political killings in KwaZulu-Natal, and that they are receiving protection.
Basson asked if gangsterism can be defeated if a senior detective like Kinnear is killed.
He replied that it was not optional to defeat him.
Basson referred to Nafiz Modack’s court appearance in Kempton Park earlier this week in what looked like a scene from a mobster movie, where heavily armed bodyguards arrived in luxury vehicles. The court paused amid reports of a gun threat and continued later.
Modack, along with Anwa Gallie and Sgt. Lesiba Rodney Masoga of the Norwood Police Station in Johannesburg, are charged with fraud, nullification of the purpose of justice and violations of the Firearms Control Act.
Cele said that she did not see the images, but that it should not be repeated.
READ | Court acquitted for the appearance of Modack amid threat of weapon: report
Cele continued: “There seems to be a growing relationship between gangsterism in the Western Cape and Gauteng.”
He said that if this is not rejected, not just by the police but by the entire judicial system, South Africa would be like countries you cannot name where gangsters have literally taken over.
“I have raised the problem that we have started to rule jointly with unelected gangsters,” he said. “It can’t be allowed. There should be a rejection.”
