A South African Police Service (SAPS) security detail has been removed from retired Anti-Gang Unit (AGU) boss Andre Lincoln, leaving him and his family without protection, despite what he says is information relating to potential hits.

Daily Maverick understands there have also been incidents involving suspected gangsters that indicate Lincoln and his family could be, or already have been, targeted.

Lincoln said he had been under police protection since 19 September 2020, a day after AGU member Charl Kinnear was assassinated outside his Bishop Lavis home in Cape Town.

Anti-Gang Unit problems

Kinnear was under obvious threat and should have been, but was not, under state protection at the time.

Lincoln now finds himself in a similar situation to that of Kinnear — of being without state protection. Among those arrested in connection with Kinnear’s killing was fellow AGU member Ashley Tabisher.

Also putting the AGU in a bad light recently was a photograph that surfaced showing a man, who may be a 27s gangster, sitting in an AGU vehicle — this week Western Cape police said they were investigating the issues surrounding the image.

Daily Maverick further established there were concerns about 27s gangsters targeting police officers. This ties into worries that surfaced following Kinnear’s murder — information had suggested other SAPS officers could be the target of criminals and this had led to certain cops being given police protection.

Kinnear’s widow, Nicolette, was also at one stage provided with security but this was later also apparently withdrawn.

‘I’m worried about my family’

Lincoln, who had health problems that resulted in both his legs being amputated below the knee, retired from the SAPS at the age of 60 towards the end of 2021. 

His exit from the SAPS had not affected the security assigned to him.

On Tuesday, though, Lincoln confirmed to Daily Maverick that the police security detail assigned to him back in September 2020 had been removed.

“I am concerned about the security of my family and myself. I still have to testify in court cases and there is constant information about possible hits.”

Lincoln, who had been involved in organised crime investigations into gangsters as well as fellow police officers, planned to push to have the security reinstated.

Daily Maverick has seen an official police communication, signed by Western Cape police commissioner Thembisile Patekile, dated August this year, about a “threat and risk re-assessment” for Lincoln from National Crime Intelligence dated April 2022.

It said the mobile protection assigned to him would be removed on 1 September and static protection would be recalled after three months, meaning at the start of December.

Threat assessment worries

But this, especially the issue of a threat assessment, did not sit well with Lincoln. He said he had been told a National Crime Intelligence Threat Risk Assessment “did not give any suggestions that the threat on my life has lessened”.

If that was the case, the security assigned to him should not have been lifted.

Asked why security relating to Lincoln was removed, Western Cape police spokesperson Colonel André Traut on Wednesday told Daily Maverick: “Issues of security and/or guard duties for certain individuals are best not discussed in the public domain. It is therefore recommended that the affected parties raise whatever concerns they have about their safety and security with SAPS management.”

The issue of a threat assessment being conducted on a previous member of the police service was focused on in Parliament recently.

In that matter, a former police administration clerk, Patricia Mashale, told Parliament she was in hiding after exposing police corruption, but that she did not trust the SAPS and State Security Agency to conduct a threat assessment on her.

National police commissioner Fannie Masemola had even said that proper procedures relating to an initial threat assessment on her were not followed and that it was not “a good idea” for SAPS officers to conduct a new one.

This implied that Masemola did not feel SAPS members were equipped to properly deal with the matter.

Zip gun and shooting

There have been previous incidents that sparked concern about Lincoln’s safety. It is understood that at around 4am on 21 April 2022, two men were stopped and searched near his home.

One was found to have a zip gun and taken into custody. At the time, police spokesperson Traut confirmed the arrest: “SAPS members deployed in Kuilsrivier arrested a 23-year-old suspect for possession of a home-made firearm in the vicinity in the early hours of Thursday morning.”

However, Traut had cautioned that it was too early to know whether the suspect had been targeting anyone specifically because “the circumstances surrounding the arrest are currently under investigation”. 

“The suggestion, without supporting facts, that the presence of the arrested suspect in the vicinity posed a threat to a specific individual is not only premature but also irresponsible, as efforts aimed at ensuring the safety and security of all the inhabitants of the area continue. 

“A plea is made for the investigation into the case to be allowed to unfold.”

An incident before that also caused concern. 

In November 2020, about two months after Kinnear was murdered, Daily Maverick reported that shots were fired near Lincoln’s home in an incident Lincoln thought could have been an attempt on his life. 

At that time, Traut said: “Kindly be advised that the circumstances surrounding the shooting incident are under police investigation. There is, however, no indication that the incident is linked to any of our members.”

Kinnear’s security

Lincoln’s security situation is now somewhat ironic because he was previously the focus of an investigation into why Kinnear, who had worked under his leadership in the AGU, had not been under protection at the time of his assassination.

Daily Maverick reported that an Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) report found that Lincoln was among those at fault for effectively failing to ensure Kinnear’s protection.

That report, as detailed in a previous Daily Maverick article, said: “Not only did Major-General Lincoln as commander [fail] but SAPS as an organisation cumulatively failed to protect or provide security measures to the late Lieutenant-Colonel Kinnear, and also failed to provide same to his immediate family for the period 3 September 2020 to 18 September 2020.”

‘Secret’ report

Ipid’s report became the centre of controversy.

It was widely leaked to the media. But in August, it emerged in Parliament that the report was classified as Top Secret, so was not meant to be in the public domain.

Parliament subsequently heard the correct procedures for classifying the report were not followed, so it had never actually been restricted.

The report was finally classified last month. Ahead of the classification fiasco, Daily Maverick had reported on its contents when it was not yet deemed restricted. Ipid’s report said that Lincoln, in failing to ensure Kinnear was protected when threats against him increased, “unfortunately fell short of the standard of the reasonable commander”.

It recommended that Lincoln be charged since his “inaction… constituted misconduct as per SAPS regulations and a serious dereliction of his duty as a Senior Police officer”.

‘Unfair target’

Daily Maverick previously reported that Lincoln said that in late 2019 the AGU had provided protection to Kinnear, but this was withdrawn in December that year because the officers had to be redeployed for festive season operations.

Lincoln had also recommended that Kinnear be transferred to another area in the Cape Town suburb of Sea Point, but Kinnear refused.

For his part, Lincoln, in a previous Labour Court matter relating to action taken against him over Kinnear’s security, said in an affidavit that “the charges are plainly ridiculous and are nothing more than retribution”.

Lincoln’s affidavit shows he felt police bosses were unfairly targeting him:

“The disciplinary proceedings against me are clearly a result of my disclosures against the senior Generals for having accused them of failing to fulfil their duties and responsibilities as contemplated in the Security Policy. I believe that I am being persecuted by the SAPS because I have made disclosures about the inaction of my seniors.”

Community interests

Despite all that happened, Lincoln had not ruled out returning to the SAPS. A few months ago, some residents from gang hotspots in the Western Cape started an online petition calling for Lincoln to be reinstated into the AGU.

It was not clear how many residents were behind the petition and when exactly it was launched, but by Wednesday 1,234 people had signed it. DM