The Congress of South African Trade Unions welcomes the report by Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela, that finds the Commissioner of the SAPS, Bheki Cele, guilty of ‘maladministration' in a lease deal which would cost the taxpayers three times the market rate for a new police headquarters in Durban.
The SAPS offered to pay businessman Roux Shabangu R1.16 billion rand for a 10-year lease that the Public protector found to be worth less than one-third of that amount.
This follows a report by Thuli Madonsela of a similar deal that also concluded that Cele was guilty of misconduct for trying to lease a national police headquarters from Shabangu in Pretoria, also at an inflated price.
It is particularly disturbing that during her investigation into these cases, in March 2011, the Public Protector received a ‘visit' from SAPS officers, and has reportedly threatened by rogue elements within the police with being charged with ‘corruption' over a matter which has long ago been resolved.
It follows a pattern of whistle-blowers being threatened and even murdered to stop them exposing evidence of corruption.
The Public Protector urged Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa to discipline Cele, and she suggested that President Jacob Zuma should review the position of Public Works Minister Gwen Mahlangu-Nkabinde, who approved these two deals and failed to cooperate with the investigation. COSATU agrees with her advice to the President - "to do the right thing".