“We have long been saying that the Minister of Police, Bheki Cele, is not fit for his position and should be fired and thus we want to congratulate Adv Andrea Johnson of the NPA for reopening the building fraud investigation against him,” said Kaylynn Palm, Action Centre coordinator at Action Society. “He should never have been appointed as Minister.”
More than 130 000 people have signed Action Society’s petition to get Cele fired. Action Society also officially lodged a formal request for the termination of Cele with the Speaker of Parliament, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, in July 2022 and is awaiting further steps. The petition is still open and available at this link: https://actionsociety.co.za/cele-must-go/
Cele was appointed police commissioner in 2009 but fired in 2012 over allegations that he illegally agreed to an R1,7 billion lease for police stations with Roux Shabangu. The then-Public Prosecutor, Thuli Madonsela, found that he had not followed the prescribed processes. However, nothing came out of the investigation because vital evidence disappeared from the file.
Accountability Now brought the case to Johnson’s attention in 2020, and according to reports, she replied in September this year that the Hawks needed to probe the matter further.
“We hope the NPA will investigate the case with the utmost urgency,” said Palm. “Cele should be stopped from further dragging the South African Police Service deeper into the abyss. If he had been serious about our country’s dire crime situation, he would have implemented effective strategies instead of parading around at the Idols finale.”
