ANC Criticises Suspended Fannie Masemola For Not Resisting Mchunu Directive
The ANC told Parliament’s ad hoc committee that suspended national police commissioner Fannie Masemola should have challenged Police Minister Senzo Mchunu’s directive concerning Crime Intelligence appointments.
The African National Congress has criticised suspended national police commissioner Fannie Masemola for failing to resist a directive issued by then-Police Minister Senzo Mchunu to halt appointments in the South African Police Service’s Crime Intelligence unit.
The ANC argued that Masemola, as the accounting officer, should have challenged the instruction because it was unlawful. The party made the submission during the parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee’s deliberations on its draft report on Wednesday night, 23 September, and asked that its position be incorporated into the report.
The committee is examining allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi concerning criminality, corruption and alleged political interference within the police service. Parliament’s records confirm that the committee was continuing its deliberations on its draft report this week.
ANC Says Masemola Should Have Challenged Directive
The ANC said Masemola should have resisted Mchunu’s instruction to impose a moratorium on Crime Intelligence appointments.
The directive was also linked to an instruction to disband the Political Killings Task Team, an issue that has formed part of the committee’s wider examination of Mchunu’s decisions and their implications for policing.
ANC MP Khusela Sangoni said Masemola should have recognised that the authority to make decisions concerning the appointments lay with him and should have opposed the ministerial intervention.
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"He ought to have known and he should know and I’m quite certain that he is aware that that power resides with him. I think it would be very remiss of us not to send a very strong message that is meant to empower accounting officers to resist this political pressure."
The ANC’s submission amounts to a criticism of Masemola’s handling of the directive rather than a finding that has yet been adopted as the committee’s final position.
Masemola Cited Career Risks In Resisting
Committee chairperson Soviet Lekganyane said Masemola had previously submitted that challenging the directive could have limited his career prospects.
According to Lekganyane, that concern explained why Masemola did not object to the instruction.
The exchange formed part of the committee’s ongoing consideration of the evidence and submissions that will inform its draft report. The committee has continued meeting to deliberate on the report following its hearings into the allegations before it.
The committee has yet to complete its final report, meaning the ANC’s position remains a party submission within the deliberations rather than a final parliamentary finding.
