National police commissioner Fannie Masemola has been placed on precautionary suspension.
Image: Siyabulela Duda / GCIS
The suspension of national police commissioner Fannie Masemola is an indication that the South African Police Service (SAPS) is deeply troubled. That is the view of some opposition parties following the precautionary suspension of General Masemola announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa yesterday.
The president also announced the appointment of Lieutenant-General Puleng Dimpane as acting national police commissioner. Ramaphosa said Dimpane had close to two decades of experience in the police service and was the divisional commissioner for financial management services. She recently testified at the Ad Hoc Committee investigating the allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
The latest development comes after Masemola appeared at the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on four counts of violating the Public Finance Management Act. Reacting to Masemola’s suspension, opposition parties said the suspension is not enough and his fitness to hold office should be investigated.
Geordin Hill-Lewis, federal leader of the Democratic Alliance, welcomed the suspension of Masemola and the appointment of Dimpane.
“This is a necessary step to protect the integrity of the office and to ensure that SAPS can continue to function while due process takes its course. The DA has previously called for a board of inquiry into General Masemola’s fitness to hold office and reiterates that call now. Suspension alone is not enough. These serious allegations require full and proper scrutiny so that accountability is not delayed, diluted, or quietly avoided.”
“However, this also lays bare the deeply alarming state of SAPS senior management. South Africans now face the extraordinary reality that the Minister of Police, the national commissioner, and a deputy national commissioner have all been suspended or placed on leave. This is not a sign of a healthy police service; it is a sign of an institution in profound crisis at the highest level,” he said.
He added, “At a time when violent crime, gang activity, extortion, and organised criminal networks are terrorising communities across the country, public confidence in SAPS leadership has been badly damaged. South Africans cannot be expected to trust a police service when scandal, suspension, and allegations of corruption have become defining features of its senior command.”
ActionSA Member of Parliament Derleen James said the suspension of the Police Commissioner marks another indication of the growing instability obstructing law enforcement from fulfilling its most basic mandate to protect South Africa and its people.
“Today adds to a growing pattern of suspensions at the highest levels of law enforcement, including that of Police Minister Senzo Mchunu. While this suspension was widely expected, given the seriousness of the allegations faced by General Masemola, South Africans cannot be expected to accept a cycle of acting appointments.
“The continued reliance on ‘acting’ appointments in critical positions such as the minister of police and the national commissioner undermines stability within SAPS,” she said. She stated that ActionSA supports decisive action to protect the integrity of SAPS. However, these repeated reactive interventions point to a deeper failure of leadership and oversight. “This appointment must be to clean up the South African Police Service, not to frustrate or delay the work of this critical institution,” she said.
IFP chief whip in the National Assembly Nhlanhla Hadebe said the party extends the benefit of the doubt to Dimpane and trusts that she will discharge her duties with the utmost professionalism, impartiality, and diligence.
“However, we are compelled to raise serious concerns about the growing trend of key positions within the security cluster being occupied in an acting capacity. The concurrent presence of both an acting minister and an acting national commissioner signals a troubling lack of stability, continuity, and decisive leadership in a sector that is fundamental to national security and the fight against crime.
“At a time when South Africans are grappling with high levels of crime and insecurity, the country cannot afford uncertainty or weakened command at the highest levels of law enforcement. Acting appointments, by their very nature, are temporary and can undermine long-term strategic planning, accountability, and public confidence,” said Hadebe.
Political analyst Dirk Kotzé also expressed concerns about the acting police commissioner, pointing out that the matter for which Masemola had been suspended is the matter she would have been deeply involved in as someone who comes from the finance unit of SAPS.
“How she is going to avoid a situation where she is not implicated is something to see,” he said.
Nhlamulo Ndhlela of MK Party said it’s concerning that such a critical institution is led by people whose actions are questionable. He expressed doubt about the acting commissioner, questioning why she is not facing the charges Masemola is facing.
“By virtue of being the CFO, why is she not in the dock because bid adjudication committees are chaired by CFOs and make recommendations to the police commissioners?” he said.
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