DA welcomes suspension of KZN SAPS boss

“The fact that it has taken more than a year for action to be taken after her suspected involvement in supply chain corruption in the KZN SAPS has surfaced is a shocking indictment on the fight against government corruption,” DA spokesman Zakhele Mbhele said.

An affidavit filed in the Durban High Court in December 2014 by then KwaZulu-Natal Hawks head Johan Booysen cited an independent forensic audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers which showed a “possibly corrupt relationship” between Ngobeni and President Jacob Zuma “friend and crony [businessman] Thoshan Panday”, he said.

This was followed by the opening of an Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) investigation into Ngobeni’s culpability in financial irregularities in the KwaZulu-Natal SA Police Service (SAPS) provincial office involving R60 million, which the DA had requested, Mbhele said.

“The Ipid investigation report details multiple counts of misconduct on the provincial commissioner’s part from failing to initiate internal investigations after being made aware of possible corruption, to actively working against a Hawks investigation that had begun on the matter, to receiving improper gratification from Mr Panday, the main suspect in the investigation.

“This matter is yet another example of the chronic weak accountability which is a pernicious cancer that has long plagued the police service, making our cops less effective in the fight against crime because it retards the removal of incompetent management. Ultimately ordinary citizens suffer and face the brunt of crime due to poor performance in the top brass,” he said.

It was reported on Sunday that acting national police commissioner Lt-Gen Khomotso Phahlane has decided to establish a board of inquiry into Ngobeni’s fitness to hold office. Ngobeni has reportedly been served with a notice of suspension pending the finalisation of the board.