The EFF in Gauteng is demanding the immediate release of the report on the investigation into the alleged misconduct of Ekurhuleni police chief Isaac Mapiyeye.
The party said the Ekurhuleni metro police department (EMPD) head, Mapiyeye, had been under investigation for an extended period for allegedly assaulting a heavily pregnant woman who was a contracted security guard with the City of Ekurhuleni.
The city council was scheduled to discuss the matter, among others on Wednesday.
EFF provincial chairperson Nkululeko Dunga said: “There are strong allegations that he further intimidated the woman to withdraw the criminal charges she had filed against him, threatening her with job loss if she pursued the case, and involving other police officials in a cover-up.
“These allegations are of serious gravity and must be taken with the urgency they warrant. The fact that the investigation, initiated last October, has yet to produce a report raises serious concerns about potential abuse of power and the manipulation of justice.”
Dunga said the EFF would not remain silent about the victimisation of women, especially by high-ranking officials who believed they were “beyond reproach” and could “cover up” misconduct.
“We caution the City against complacency regarding serious allegations of abuse and harassment. The delay in releasing the investigation report obstructs fair treatment and justice. The report must be finalised and presented to the council without further delay,” Dunga said.
He said the City could not afford to delay the matter any longer, as doing so would imply that the accused head of department was being protected by the City and its officials, while the victim — a junior staff member and a woman — was left to cope with her trauma alone, especially during Women’s Month.
“Failure to bring this to the council would represent a classic case of justice delayed being justice denied,” he said.
Dunga said it was apparent that the ANC and DA caucuses were conspiring to block the processing of the report for political reasons.
“This unethical conduct is not surprising coming from racism apologists and their collaborators,” Dunga said.
According to reports, there are criminal cases against Mapiyeye surrounding cases of assault of a pregnant woman and drunk driving, following a complaint lodged with the public protector by a private forensic investigator in December after the police allegedly failed to probe charges against the senior traffic officer properly.
According to the investigator’s complaint, the assault charges against Mapiyeye were reported to Kwa-Thema police after he allegedly abused an employee of a security company contracted with the municipality to conduct operations at the EMPD academy.
City of Ekurhuleni spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said: “Let’s allow the council to exhaust the matter and come up with a decision before we can comment as a City.”
Brandon Pretorius, the DA leader in Ekurhuleni, said they questioned the procedure that had been followed to get this item into the meeting’s programme, to try to force its way to the council.
“We are not saying that the report should not serve in front of council. What we are questioning is the way the city manager decided to approach this matter,” Pretorius said.
“The city manager and the act do allow for the city manager to either table the report through the executive mayor or to table it through herself. The city manager opted to table this report through the executive mayor and, according to the information that we received, the executive deliberated on this matter. There was then a request that a legal opinion be sought before the item be brought formally to the council.
“Now, based on that, the act also then does allow for a seven-day period before the report then needs to serve. Ultimately, what we are saying is, seeing that this matter is a disciplinary issue, let’s follow the correct procedure so that when this matter gets questioned or objected to, the procedure that has been followed is not flawed. It's as simple as that,” said Pretorius.
He said he thought it was quite ironic that the EFF within the City was trying to pull the DA into a fight that they were having with their coalition partners, the ANC.
“I think this is them trying to re-establish relevance within the political environment and it’s quite fortunate or unfortunate, rather, that they are doing this to the detriment of the citizens. Ultimately, as the DA, we are a principled party, and therefore these decisions get made very easily because we are consistent in what we won’t allow the EFF to pull us into what is a squabble with the ANC,” said Pretorius.
ANC Ekurhuleni caucus leader Jongizizwe Dlabathi said according to their understanding the issues had been brought to the attention of and were within the mayoral committee system for proper processing.
Dlabathi said as a practice, the mayoral committees were taken into confidence about all items brought to the council by the administration.
“Subject to the outstanding briefing to be undertaken on the issue, the matter will accordingly be brought to council. The ANC is of the view that the political authority of the mayoral committee should not be circumvented when dealing with matters that warrant its consideration and ownership,” said Dlabathi.
He said it should be noted that the ANC-led government had been upfront in condemning GBV and any form of harassment and abuse involving women and children. This was a principle they subscribed to.
“Therefore, the ANC is of the view that we allow the executive mayor and his committee to properly bring the item to council without any undue interference and influence,” Dlabathi said.
The Star