INLSA
Console Tleane. Photo: Etienne Creux
Elements within the Tshwane Metro Police Department are concerned that the removal of an investigations team from the Community Safety Department will hinder current probes of corrupt metro police officers and city officials.
A memo from the office of the city manager states that the unit’s members are in future to report to the city’s internal audit office, which falls under the office of the city manager.
But Tshwane Metro Police spokesman Console Tleane has re-assured residents that the move will not have an impact on any investigations which are under way.
“It is fallacious to insinuate that investigations against alleged corrupt activities against members of the Metro Police will no longer be conducted.
“Such acts can still be conducted by the office of the audit executive, an example of which was demonstrated a few months ago when members of the Metro Police were implicated in allegations of corruption,” he said.
The Pretoria News is in possession of an internal memo written and signed by recently appointed city manager Jason Ngobeni, which states that the team ceases to exist with “immediate effect”.
The 67-member team is responsible for among other things ant corruption investigations, entrapments, employee screenings for criminal records and incident investigations and, according to sources, is investigating more than 400 internal dockets.
The memo, which is still to be presented to council, is addressed to the city’s community safety department head, General Daniel Manganye, and copied to the newly appointed community safety MMC.
While in the memo Ngobeni states that the strategy behind the dissolution of the unit and the incorporation of its members into his office is good corporate governance, sources say it is nothing more than an attempt to stop leaks to the media on corruption within the TMPD and the council.
The memo states that the unit’s members, until incorporated into the city manager’s office, will report to the city’s internal audit office. The unit currently falls under the city’s Community Safety Department.
A report titled Alignment of the Investigation Team within the Community Safety Department to the office of the chief audit executive, which the Pretoria News is in possession of, states that the team, which is part of the standards evaluation and monitoring unit, is transferred “as is” to the office of the chief audit executive.
The office of the chief audit executive reports directly to the city manager’s office.
The move, according to the report, is part of the council’s new macro organisational structure, approved by the council in July.
The document states that staff from the team “are to relinquish their status as metro police officers as they will no longer be required to investigate conduct by police officers, neither will they be required to carry out inspectoral duties over metro police officers.”
The document states that all the team’s members are to surrender their “tools of the trade”, specifically including police uniforms, badges, rank insignia, protective clothing, firearms, permits, appointment certificates and vehicles.
While Ngobeni says the move comes into immediate effect, unions are refusing to accept it.
A TMPD source said it was clear the city was trying to stop investigations and prevent the leaking of claims of corruption to the media.
“It is clear as daylight. Why else would they do this. If they still wanted an internal investigation arm within the TMPD and city, why would they take away the team’s investigation powers.
“They are doing everything within their power to cover up the looting, criminal activities and corruption which are rife within the TMPD. It is a complete sham aimed at ensuring that nothing ever happens to the likes of senior corrupt officers, many of whom are very powerful and connected to criminal networks, both within and outside the metro police,” said the source.
Another source asked how the team could be taken out of the metro police and placed into a section which had no investigative powers?
“It is crazy and beyond belief.”
The source said it was not known what would happen to the dockets under investigation and that it was an attempt to stop these investigations.
“This is precisely why they want to shut the team down.”
But Tleane said current investigations would not be dropped and that the move would result in the unit’s capacity benefiting the entire municipality.
“While a final decision has not been taken on current cases it is a matter of common sense that the cases will have to be pursued and concluded. The mechanism will have to be worked out on how they will be concluded.
“An organisational structural change is a common feature in big organisations, including the City of Tshwane.
“Such changes bring their own challenges. However, seldom do things fall apart. An example relevant to this department was the de-linking of emergency services from community safety. This de-linking has not led to services no longer being offered,” said Tleane. – Pretoria News
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