President Cyril Ramaphosa during a memorial service at the Union Buildings in Pretoria. (Photo: Gallo Images / The Times / Kevin Sutherland) Payments totalling R3-million are under investigation after motivations – or requests – for the cash from police officers suggested they were involved in protecting President Cyril Ramaphosa.
However, it turns out they may not have been involved in his security.
The matter was referred to the police’s anti-corruption investigating unit.
Responding to Daily Maverick questions about the case on Friday, 27 March, national police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said: “Both internal and criminal investigations are underway.
“Details of the investigation cannot be disclosed at this stage, as it may compromise the investigation.”
This matter now adds to the overwhelming turmoil the SAPS is in.
Escalating problems
It emerged this week that SAPS head Fannie Masemola faces criminal charges and is expected in court on 21 April.
Masemola faces accusations connected to a dodgy R360-million police tender awarded two years ago to Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala’s company Medicare 24 Tshwane District.
Twelve other senior police officers were arrested on Tuesday, 24 March in that matter, and appeared in the magistrate’s court in Pretoria the following day.
Matlala is at the centre of democratic South Africa’s (SA’s) biggest law enforcement crisis.
He faces criminal charges linked to the Medicare 24 tender, as well as in a separate case involving attempted murder accusations.
Meanwhile, in the investigation the president is now referenced in, it appears that it was registered earlier this month in Tshwane, and that a police officer is the complainant.
Simply put, a police officer lodged a criminal complaint that raises questions about other police officers.
Red-flagged transactions
Daily Maverick understands that transactions were red-flagged on the police finance system earlier this month and that those were linked to the Protection and Security Services unit, based in Tshwane.
This unit, according to a previous SAPS presentation to Parliament, “renders a professional, effective and accountable protection and security service, to all identified dignitaries and government interests in South Africa”.
In the case under investigation, Daily Maverick understands that advanced cash payments were made to certain SAPS employees.
Approved forms, which should have been attached to the advance requests, may not have been included.
A note
However, it appeared that a note about the protection duties for Ramaphosa was attached to the advance requests.
The employees who were allegedly paid the collective R3-million were not listed on the note.
This matter is essentially what is now under investigation.
It is one of several probes aimed back at the police service.
Several other investigations, focused on police officers, are underway.
The overall law enforcement scandal erupted last year when KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi alleged that a drug cartel known as the Big Five had infiltrated the country’s criminal justice system, politics and private security.
This loops back to “Cat” Matlala – he has been accused of being a Big Five cartel member.
Two parallel hearings – the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry and Parliament’s ad hoc committee – have been investigating the drug cartel infiltration allegations.
What has emerged through witness testimony is that several senior police officers are connected to Matlala.
For example, the SAPS’s organised crime head, Major General Richard Shibiri, testified about an R80,000 “loan” from Matlala.
Another police officer, Brigadier Rachel Matjeng, claimed to be Matlala’s girlfriend and said she had asked him for money for the weight loss drug Ozempic.
Matjeng is among the 12 police officers who were arrested this week in connection with the SAPS tender previously awarded to Matlala’s Medicare 24 company.
This is the matter in which Masemola now also faces charges. DM