Pressure is mounting on the Hawks to explain how a former Western Cape head of detectives with a “questionable” past will now assume the role of the divisional commissioner next month.
Major-General Patrick Mbotho currently heads up the Hawks in North West.
At a police portfolio committee meeting last week, chairperson Ian Cameron questioned Mbotho’s appointment, saying: “How do we justify an appointment of a general who was previously found not only (to have) sent pornographic material to his detective command ... but also continuing with underworld activities, meeting with well-known underworld figures in Cape Town involved in extortion, among other things?”
Hawks head Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya defended the appointment, citing a rigorous selection process as well as the regulations guiding disciplinary processes which he said dictated that “discipline is a corrective and not a punitive measure, discipline must be applied in a prompt ... consistent and progressive manner”.
Rise Mzansi MP Makashule Gana said while understanding they were not the appointing authority, he questioned what checks had been done “that the senior leadership of SAPS believed (Mbotho) was fully rehabilitated?”
ACDP MP Reverend Kenneth Raselabe Joseph Meshoe said he needed clarity on the appointment of an individual who had a cloud hanging over him. “I do not understand how such a thing can happen,” he said.
ANC MP Shaik Imraan Subrathie said “there (was) public sensitivity surrounding senior appointments like that of General Mbotho and when we make such appointments there must be some form of calming. We cannot want to be a kangaroo court either, there is a democratic process and I’m sure if he has been granted that appointment there must be a rational and reasoning behind it. What was the thinking behind it? We must be mindful of public opinion that contributes to the mistrust. I think that such an appointment, especially when there is a cloud over someone, their appointment must be preceded by the department making such an announcement.”
DA MP Lisa Schickerling on Tuesday said: “An officer who has met with a known figure in the criminal underworld, who assails fellow officers with explicit sexual material, and who left at least one appointment under a cloud of controversy cannot be considered fit to serve in such a high-powered role.
“Mbotho, who is slated to start in his new position on 1 October 2024 with a R2 million salary package, posted graphic sexual content on an SAPS detective command WhatsApp group from his official cellphone in 2017.
He was later redeployed to the Hawks in the North West. At the same time, senior colleagues in the SAPS ... have raised serious concerns about Mbotho’s professional conduct. It was reported in the same year that Mbotho, when he was acting provincial commissioner, held meetings with alleged mob boss, Nafiz Modack, on more than one occasion.”
Approached for comment, the police ministry referred questions to the Hawks, adding that the national head of the DPCI was responsible for appointments and related processes.
Hawks spokesperson Thandi Mbambo said: “We are waiting for written questions from the portfolio committee on police which we shall respond (to). The committee consists of members from different parties which expressed different and opposing views on this subject.”
Crime forensic expert Calvin Rafadi said it was a matter of ethics and potential bias.
“In essence their concern is ... he can be conflicted. When we say a person is conflicted he is going to be biased in taking decisions and dealing with someone. He is the right-hand of the head of the Hawks, they have more influence.
So it is a valid concern, if a person is conflicted will they be biased in their position? It is among the reasons why people can be captured in the long run.
Many syndicates look after the person they like as an investment for the future. It is about the ethics,” he said.
Cape Times