An act of disobedience and wrongdoing is rightfully charged with the relevant laws. It has always been the culture of society to punish acts that went against societal rules.
In Ancient Greek and Rome; during the age of Christian expansion; in warfare times; in Egyptian history, punishment has always been there.
This is to say that President Jacob Zuma was simply applying what has been society’s trend to recall the former National Police Commissioner, Bheki Cele, from his position. Cele had signed off a deal to rent out buildings in Pretoria and Durban for the South African Police Services (SAPS) without following the correct procedural administrative process.
General Bheki Cele was appointed by President Zuma in 2009 to commission the portfolio of policing. As much as it is seen in society that his appointment was a political deployment from Luthuli House, but Cele’s appointment is validated by his credible training in militancy.
When freedom fighters fled the country to receive military training from neighbouring countries and overseas, Cele was one of them. They were all driven by the activism to free the country from colonial rule. Furthermore, Cele was one of the first contingent that was sent overseas to study the theories of policing and he attended these forums regularly.
During his tenure as police commissioner, crime decreased by a significant 9%. He also rallied for the adoption of policies that would transform policing in South Africa for the better. Among these was the acceptance by parliament to militarize the police and introducing the Tactical Response Team (TRT), better known as ‘amaberete’.
The TRT was established in 2009 as part of the special forces that would deal with high risk crimes such as armed robbery and cash-in-transit. The rationale behind the TRT was that they would be able to deal with such crimes because of the proximity to reach locations where these crimes occurred and also the heightened specialized training that they received. The TRT were successful to curb mall robberies and ATM bombings even though they are third on the ladder of special forces available to the SAPS. The Special Task Force (STF) is on top of the list which is followed by the National Intervention Unity (NIU).
The recent social media Twitterati campaign to #BringBackBhekiCele comes after the realization that violent crimes have rapidly escalated since Bheki Cele was dismissed from the position of police commissioner. Recent stats by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) revealed an alarming increase in murder rates of 2.8% which the current commissioner has dismissed as incorrect.
Firing Bheki Cele might be justified by the rules that governs administrative task in all government position, but the outcry by the nation is justified. Bheki Cele might have signed a dodgy deal, but he didn’t indulge in corruption where public money was used to benefit him. He has said in a number of occasions that he has never met Roux Shabangu who was awarded the police building lease which led to his dismissal because ‘apparently’ he did not disclose their relationship.
We have witnessed a lot of public officials that have grossly wronged the public but they never went to trial for their acts of dishonesty.
We have had ministers who have corrupted public money but have never been investigated. They are still in government.
I think the nation is justified to plead for Cele’s reappointment as he ensured that he abides by the code of conduct of policing and serves the community as best as he could. He was ‘hands-on’ in his daily deeds.
#BringBackBhekiCele
By Ndumiso Mbeki Jr Maseko
iamanafricanandnotanafricant 