Police Resignations: Cele should resign if SIU finds he misled Parliament
If it is found during the Special Investigating Unit's (SIU) probe that National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele misled the Police Portfolio Committee on Friday - an allegation that is reported on in this morning's Sunday Times - then the Democratic Alliance (DA) will have no option but to call for his resignation (see report).
Commissioner Cele is embroiled in a major scandal relating to two rental deals, for buildings in Pretoria and Durban, worth over R700-million, and the Commissioner on Friday attempted to shift the blame to the three generals who resigned - Stefanus Terblanche, Matthews Siwundla and Hamilton Hlela. The DA believes that if the three Generals were guilty of criminality, they should have been suspended and charged, not paid out Golden Handshakes out of the public purse. However, if the Commissioner has misled Parliament, then it is he who needs to account for what has transpired.
On Friday, I specifically asked Commissioner Cele to explain what was paid out to the three SAPS members who resigned and why they were told to leave the SAPS. The commissioner then appeared to claim that the resignations followed after he approached the SIU and asked them to investigate SAPS property deals, and that all three SAPS members resigned of their own volition. He appeared to imply that there may be criminal charges to follow.
However, there are at least two different versions of the story now on the table:
1.) The Ministry of Public Works claims it, not Commissioner Cele, asked the SIU to investigate dodgy property deals within the SAPS.