ANC Criticises General Masemola’s Handling of Minister Mchunu’s Crime Intelligence Directive

• The ANC told the ad hoc committee that suspended Police Commissioner General Fanie Masemola failed his constitutional duty over a disputed directive
• ANC MP Khuselo Diko expressed sympathy for Masemola's position but said rules were rules and the issues had long been identified
• The ad hoc committee continues deliberating its draft report on criminality within SAPS, with a deadline set for 30 October

SOUTH AFRICA — The African National Congress has accused suspended National Police Commissioner General Fanie Masemola of failing to uphold his constitutional obligations by implementing a moratorium on Crime Intelligence appointments, a directive issued by suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu.

The submission was made as the ad hoc committee examining allegations of criminality within the South African Police Service continued deliberating on its draft report, which is due on 30 October.

Masemola's defence and the ANC's response

During his appearance before the committee, Masemola argued that pushing back against Mchunu's directive would have amounted to interference and could have jeopardised his tenure as Police Commissioner. He described an environment built over a decade that made it exceptionally difficult for senior operational police members to perform their duties, suggesting that resistance carried significant personal and professional risk.

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ANC MP Khuselo Diko acknowledged the difficult position Masemola found himself in, but maintained that rules are rules and that the concerns at issue had been identified long before the matter came to a head. Diko further stated that, as an accounting officer, Masemola should have known he was entitled to request that any instruction he believed to be unlawful be put in writing before acting on it.

PFMA charges against Masemola dropped

In a separate development, charges against General Masemola relating to a contravention of the Public Finance Management Act in connection with the Medicare 24 tender were dropped.

See video here:

Social media weighs in

@Mashesha_RSA said:

"Let's count how many failures Masemola has and how many failures the ANC has."

@Anele5151 wrote:

"According to ANC, Mchunu is clean because he is a comrade and Masemola is to blame because he is not connected to ANC"

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@OgaDaIgwe stated:

"So the duplicitous ANC is brazen enough to criticise Masemola for implementing an unconstitutional directive from an ANC minister but does not criticise Mchunu or fire him for conjuring up directives that are unconstitutional. What interesting times we live in!"

@mekgatla wrote:

"They are trying to use this as a pretext for not bringing him back to the office."

@KingKabazela added:

"ANC is trying to prevent General Masemola's return to office and save Senzo Mchunu. 🚮"

Masemola eager to get back to work

Previously, Briefly News reported that Major General Fannie Masemola expressed his desire to return to duty following a five-month legal ordeal. The suspended National Police Commissioner spoke about his readiness to return to work after the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) withdrew all charges against him. Masemola said the five-month suspension had taken his toll on him personally and his family.

Source: Briefly News