Mdluli re-suspension too little too late

Reports this morning that controversial "shifted" police crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli and the unit's finance boss Solly Lazarus have effectively been issued with a notice of suspension is too little, too late (see Mail & Guardian article.)

Mdluli has apparently been given seven days to give reasons to Acting National Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi as to why he should not be suspended for a second time.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) maintains that Mdluli and Lazarus must be suspended with immediate effect. The preferential treatment of Mdluli given the murder and fraud allegations levelled against him is baffling.

Mdluli should, of course, never have been reinstated considering the mass of evidence against him.

The very fact that he was allowed to reassume his job in the first place proves that he has been given preferential treatment.

We have to ask: Is it because of the alleged political interference in the police service by Minister Nathi Mthethwa himself that Mdluli has been getting a soft ride?

Minister Mthethwa must own up to his alleged improper involvement and political interference in the Mdluli saga, whether at the reported behest of the President or not, and resign.

The public outcry over the Mdluli saga and increasing pressure by the DA in Parliament, the media and civil society bodies such as Freedom Under Law (FUL) are clearly yielding results.

The DA will continue to keep up the pressure to ensure that the South African public receive a full explanation about the Mdluli saga before this chapter of the already blemished recent history of the police service is closed.

Statement issued by Dianne Kohler Barnard MP, DA Shadow Minister of Police, May 18 2012

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