Selebi's one month contract extension is unacceptable
On June 26th, 2008, government spokesperson Themba Maseko said (here) that suspended National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi's contract would be renewed for 12 months, and that the contract would come into effect from July 1st. This logically implies that Selebi's contract is due to expire today.
Now Jacob Zuma's spokesperson Thabo Masebe says that Commissioner Selebi's contract will only expire at the end of July, at which point President Zuma will make a decision on whether he will remain National Police Commissioner.
This surely means that not only will Selebi's suspension as Police Commissioner be extended by a month, but also that, in effect, his contract has been renewed by one month.
If this is the case, the DA condemns the Presidency's decision in the strongest possible terms.
Jackie Selebi's reputation has been irretrievably damaged, and he can under no circumstances continue to represent this country as our National Police Commissioner. President Zuma ought to have said long ago in no uncertain terms that Selebi's contact would not be renewed.
The DA will urgently submit Parliamentary Questions to the Minister of Police on this matter. We will ascertain amongst other things, if a further R100 000 of taxpayer's money has been wasted by the Zuma administration on an additional month's salary for Selebi.
Statement issued by Dianne Kohler Barnard MP, Democratic Alliance shadow minister of police, June 30 2009
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