ActionSA notes with serious concern the response provided by the Acting Minister of Police to ActionSA’s parliamentary question, which confirms that two senior officials within the South African Police Service (SAPS) Protection and Security Services were found not guilty in internal disciplinary proceedings. This comes despite clear findings and recommendations by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) that they had a case to answer for serious misconduct.
The reply confirms that both officials remain in SAPS employment, and that while IPID had recommended disciplinary action following its investigation, the internal SAPS disciplinary process ultimately contradict the substance and intent of those findings, resulting in exoneration.
The IPID investigation identified serious misconduct, including contraventions of SAPS disciplinary regulations arising from conduct inconsistent with the duties and obligations of members within the Presidential Protection Service environment. These findings were sufficiently serious to warrant formal disciplinary proceedings, yet the internal process resulted in not guilty findings on all charges.
This outcome cannot be viewed in isolation. It adds to a growing body of evidence before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and Parliament’s Ad Hoc Committee into related matters, both of which have exposed deep and systemic vulnerabilities within SAPS governance and accountability structures.
These processes increasingly point to an uncomfortable but unavoidable conclusion: SAPS internal disciplinary mechanisms are not fit for purpose in their current form and cannot be relied upon to deliver credible accountability in politically sensitive or high stakes matters.
The pattern is now consistent: IPID makes findings, SAPS refers matters to internal disciplinary processes, and those processes routinely result in acquittals that are difficult to reconcile with the underlying investigative record. In light of these developments, ActionSA will be submitting an urgent formal PAlA application requesting the full record of decision and/or judgment arising from these disciplinary proceedings.
This will include the presiding officers detailed reasoning, evidentiary assessments, transcript records where available, and all submissions made by the parties during the disciplinary hearings. The public has a right to understand how such serious IPID findings are repeatedly overturned within internal SAPS processes.
ActionSA will continue to pursue parliamentary and legal avenues to ensure transparency, restore credibility to police oversight institutions, and ensure that no official is shielded from accountability through flawed internal processes.
ActionSA Nobuhle Mthembu (Speaker of Johannesburg) Rising Star: Currently serves as the Speaker of the Johannesburg Council, one of the most powerful legislative positions in the country’s economic hub. Focus: Known for a strict “Rule of Law” approach to council sittings and managing the volatile multi-party environment in Jo’burg. Athol Trollip (National Chairperson)
Cardinal Rebel
Do not argue with a fool because he will drag you down to his level and then beat you with experience.
Troubadour
Interview with a pirate:
There was a pirate who had agreed to do an interview with a local tv station. The reporter was very courteous and professional, giving a bit of background as to the pirate\’s business. She then began interviewing him.
\”So Mr. Longbeard, are there any risks to your business? I see you have a peg leg- how did that come about?\”
\”Well, y\’see I were sailing along the coast of South Africa, looking to plunder some locals when as I boarded the small boat from the ship, a great white shark came up and got my leg clean off. \’twas scary yes, but thus is the life of a pirate.\”
\”Wow, that is pretty scary- well, how about your hook? What happened to your hand with that?\”
\”Oh now that\’s quite the tale, y\’see I were fighting a rival pirate, and we had locked swords. We had been fighting for a few hours, and were both terribly fatigued. I had a bit of exhaustion and confusion, and when I went to block one of his sword blows, I met him with me hand instead of me sword. Took it right off, but it shocked him so much I managed to get him back pretty good and have him submit. So the hook hand was given as a replacement.\”
\”Wow. Simply fascinating. Now, what about your eye patch? How did that happen?\”
\”Well, one day, a seagull was flying overhead, and I looked up. It pooped right in me eye.\”
\”… Well wow. I must admit, I wouldn\’t think just seagull poop could damage the eye that badly.\”
\”Oh, I forgot to mention… it were me first day with the hook.\”