Bheki Cele Said He Did Not See Intelligence Gathered Before #CivilUnrest
- Police Minister Bheki Cele recently revealed that he had not seen any intelligence gathered before the civil unrest that rampaged KZN and Gauteng
- This follows state security colleague Ayanda Dlodlo stating to journalists that the information was given to the SAPS
- Cele went on to explain that he would only have received the intelligence if it was shared at a ministerial level
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Minister of Police Bheki Cele stated that he had not received intelligence before the civil unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal last week. The news goes against the repeated statements made by government security colleague Ayanda Dlodlo.
Dlodlo told journalists last week that intelligence structures had been feeding the SAPS information for them to be able to take action against the alleged planned protests that formed part of the violence and looting.
The civil unrest which reportedly started in KZN and spread to Gauteng was allegedly triggered by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma.
Source: Getty Images
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TimesLIVE reported that Cele told Parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Defence and the Portfolio Committee on Police that it was not about him seeing the intelligence information but that when information like that was shared with the SAPS he would not be the one to sign for it.
Cele went on to say that he would have been the recipient of the intelligence provided it was shared at a Ministerial level. He explained that it had to go through Ministries and only then would he, the Police Minister, call the director-general to inform them.
According to EWN, Dlodlo stated that they had received the information last week and both analysed and packaged it before it was handed to police. However, Cele said that he never saw the warnings.
Phoenix, north of Durban is reportedly at the epicentre of unrest, a team of investigators to take over
Briefly News reported that members of the community in Phoenix, north of Durban, have been protecting their families after the civil unrest gripped areas in both Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal. It was alleged that looters were shot by residents who were standing by barricades at almost every intersection in the area.
A South African Police Service team of top detectives have now been assigned to investigate the deaths of 20 people who were killed in Phoenix during the violence that took place last week.
Police Minister Bheki Cele stated that residents in the area should not allow for elements such as criminality to take over their efforts of attempting to protect themselves.
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Source: Briefly News
