Shortlist of candidates for Head of Hawks must be made public
23 November 2017
The DA will write to Police Minister, Fikile Mbalula, to urge him to make public the shortlist of candidates for a new permanent Head of the Hawks.
If Mbalula has not done so by 1 December 2017, we will write to the Police Portfolio Committee Chairperson, Francois Beukman, to urge him to request that Mbalula makes the shortlist available to the Committee. The Committee has the rightful powers and Constitutional duty to exercise oversight over this appointment process and therefore has the right to receive this information.
President Zuma’s surprise appointment late yesterday of the new permanent National Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Kehla John Sithole, who provided Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma with the blue-light brigades for her ANC campaign, has continued his lamentable record of failing to elevate uncompromised candidates for the job.
Mbalula is on record that he is finalising the appointment process for the Hawks Head. The lack of a transparent and independent process to date warrants a serious cause for concern that the decision will once again be taken behind closed doors against unknown criteria.