The DA on Monday called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to make public details of national police commissioner Khehla Sitole’s exit deal, and why he opted against the disciplinary route initiated in 2021.
On Friday Ramaphosa said Sitole would “by mutual agreement” vacate his post on March 31, and that the two had reached consensus on terminating the commissioner’s service in the “best interests” of SA.
Questions soon arose, also among opposition parties, whether Sitole was given a “golden handshake” to leave quietly, sidestepping a lengthy disciplinary process that would have cast the ANC, the government and the security cluster in a poor light.
“We would like to know on what terms that mutual agreement was reached. We would like to know the quantum that was paid, because there’s no way that no money was paid,” DA shadow minister of policing Andrew Whitfield said on Monday. “And we would like an explanation as to why the president did not conclude the established disciplinary process.”
Section 8 of the SA Police Service (SAPS) Act sets out how to establish an inquiry over a loss of confidence in the national police commissioner.
Sitole will be out of office in a matter of weeks, rendering the board of inquiry founded by Ramaphosa late in 2021 obsolete. However, police watchdog the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) will continue its probe into Sitole.
The DA said it has filed a Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia) application seeking more details on the “mutual” separation.
Among other things, Sitole was implicated in the procurement of a “grabber” for the ANC’s 2017 elective conference, Whitfield noted. In recent court papers Sitole credited transport minister Fikile Mbalula with the idea. Ramaphosa established a board of inquiry into Sitole’s fitness to hold office in 2021.
EFF spokesperson Sinawo Thambo has claimed Sitole’s exit was “based purely on factional interests” in the ANC. The EFF has called for police minister Bheki Cele’s removal, arguing he and not Sitole were responsible for policing failures. Cele’s spokesperson refused to comment.
On Monday the Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union (Popcru) linked Sitole’s exit directly to police failures during the July 2021 unrest that left more than 300 people dead. The 145,000-member union welcomed the move, but was concerned about continued leadership instability.
Popcru spokesperson Richard Mamabolo said SAPS managers’ skills must be audited, and Ramaphosa should tackle “deep-rooted challenges that have marred this position” before hiring Sitole’s replacement.
Guy Lamb, a criminologist in the political studies department at Stellenbosch University said it is a foregone conclusion Sitole will be out of a job in months, especially in light of Ipid’s investigation.
Johan Burger, a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies, welcomed Sitole’s departure: “He will avoid the embarrassment of having to face a public inquiry and the risk of being found unfit for office.”
Burger supports an open process for choosing the next police commissioner, and Whitfield agrees. “If we’re really serious about building trust in the police, we need a transparent process for appointing the new police commissioner.”
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