Dear Editor
The Democratic Alliance welcomes the arrest of Lt General Khumalo, Brigadier Ncube, Brigadier Madondo and Major General Gabela, top figures within the South African Police Service’s Crime Intelligence CI Division.
This is a welcomed step in rescuing an organisation on the brink of collapse. This points to yet another serious breach of trust within a critical state institution tasked with performing our nation’s policing functions and mandate.
The Democratic Alliance will undertake a watching brief on the matter in question. In February of this year, the Democratic Alliance wrote to the Inspector General of Intelligence, Imtiaz Fazel after it was uncovered that Crime Intelligence allegedly spent R22.8 million on the purchase of a highly questionable commercial property in Berea, Durban and R22.7 million on a luxury boutique hotel in Pretoria North.
Further, these purchases were authorised by Major General Lushaba as the CFO and Crime Intelligence head, Major-General Dumisani Khumalo. These properties were purchased and seem to be just a tip of the iceberg which, being revealed threatens to sink crime intelligence once and for all.
Just over 10 days ago, Major General Lushaba, the Chief Financial Officer of the Crime Intelligence division handed himself over to police, after it emerged that a sex worker stole his state issued firearm and laptop, he subsequently lied about the matter which lead to his eventual arrest.
We expect more arrests to follow of very high-ranking and senior officials of the South African Police Service. After years of Zuma era state capture and corruption Crime Intelligence essentially became a cash cow for Zuma-aligned cronies. We call on Minister Senzo Mchunu to ensure that the full might of the law prevails and that these arrests lead to the imprisonment of those found guilty of wrongdoing.
The DA has hoped that at last Crime Intelligence was rising out of the Richard Mdluli era, but sadly for South Africa, that is not the case.
Regards
Dianne Kohler Barnard MP
DA Spokesperson on State Security