Removal of the Head of the Hawks from office by the court of law

13 April 2017

The South African Communist Party welcomes the Wednesday 12 April court outcome effectively removing Berning Ntlemeza from the position of the Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), also known as the Hawks. His appointment was in the first place irrational, unlawful and therefore invalid. He should not have been appointed to the position to start with. His appointment and its consistent defence by the appointing authorities were two of the many own goals impacting negatively on the confidence of our people in our government and the ANC-led Alliance.

In addition the conduct of the Hawks under Ntlemeza, a man who, in March 2015 while acting as the Head of the Hawks was found by the North Gauteng High Court to be “biased and dishonest”, to be lacking “integrity and honour”, and to have “made false statements under oath”, was seriously compromised and factionalised.

The SACP in fact ended up approaching the Office of the DPCI Judge Complaints Unit to register its concerns. The series of court judgements that in the ultimate analysis read in conjunction finally removed Ntlemeza from the position of the Head of the Hawks clearly exonerated the SACP.

Issued by Alex Mohubetswane Mashilo, National Spokesperson, SACP, 13 April 2017