DA calls for suspension of Police Commissioner pending outcome of IPID ‘Nasrec grabber’ probe
4 March 2021
Note to editors: Please find attached soundbite from Andrew Whitfield MP.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is calling for the suspension of the South African Police Service (SAPS) National Commissioner General KhehlaSitole pending the outcome of the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) investigation into the “Nasrec grabber” scandal.
General Sitole, and other high-ranking SAPS officials, reportedly tried to buy an electronic device capable of intercepting phone calls and cellphone messages, also known as a grabber, for R45 million ahead of the 2017 ANC conference at Nasrec allegedly in order to influence voting.
In what seems to be a bid to protect himself, the General then classified this failed attempt to procure this electronic device at a hugely inflated price – grabbers usually retail between R7 million and R10 million.
In January Judge Norman Davis ruled in the High Court that General Sitole and his co-conspirators, Lieutenant-General Francinah Vuma, Divisional Commissioner: Financial Management and Administration, and Lieutenant-General LebeonaTsumane, Deputy National Commissioner: Crime Detection, sought to defeat the ends of justice by employing legal assistance to appeal a court ruling that the documents should be handed to IPID.
Sitole and his colleagues appealed the January judgment which has now been dismissed. In his scathing judgment in dismissing the appeal, Judge Davis found that the General and his subordinates had breached their duties as SAPS officials by failing to provide the documents to assist the IPID investigation. He said Sitole’s refusal to declassify the documents “amounts to a breach of his statutory obligations” and that “classification-issue was clearly used as a shield or a smokescreen to hide behind from any enquiry”.
The entire “Nasrec grabber” saga and General Sitole’s involvement appears to be a clear example of state capture wherein the ANC attempted to use State funds to capture the crime intelligence sector for the benefit of the party in the interest of one faction.
Sithole’s attempts in court to keep his involvement in this scandal classified, demonstrates that he is not suitable to preside of the SAPS as national commissioner, and as such cannot be trusted to not attempt interference in the IPID investigation to protect himself.
It seems quite clear that General Sitole feels the consequences of his actions breathing down his neck and is trying to protect himself. South Africa cannot have an acting national police commissioner who is under investigation from IPID, and if the General will not do the correct thing and step down himself until the matter is resolved, he must be suspended.
Issued by Andrew Whitfield,DA Shadow Minister of Police, 4 March 2021
