Zuma appoints new police commissioner

Sitole was previously the protection and security services divisional commissioner.

He will replace the acting commissioner Lesetja Mothiba with immediate effect.

The position of permanent police commissioner has been vacant since Riah Phiyega was suspended in October 2015.

Phiyega was suspended following her role in the Marikana massacre in 2012.

Stole joined the police force in 1986.

“General Sithole brings a wealth of operational as well as management experience to the SA Police Service. He has grown through the ranks of the police, having joined the service as a constable until his promotion as a Lieutenant General in 2011,” Zuma’s office says in a statement.

Sitole joined the police as a student constable in 1986 and in that same year was promoted to sergeant. He quickly came up through the ranks and received a promotion every two years until becoming a major in 1992.

“His extensive experience in the police service will assist him to execute this critical task of making South Africans and everyone in the country safer and to feel safer. We wish General Sitole all of the best as he assumes his new position at the helm of a very important institution in government and the country,” Zuma says.