INLSA
Hawks boss General Anwa Dramat Picture: Antoine de Ras
A union has accused police’s top management of trying to clandestinely shut down the Hawks to establish a new unit outside the SAPS.
This emerged in a letter written by the SA Police Union’s general secretary Oscar Skommere to acting national police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
The union alleged that Major General Simon Mapyane, head of the Hawks in Mpumalanga, told commanders during a management meeting in Middleburg, Mpumalanga, that the SAPS was in the process of restructuring and that the Hawks would be no more by March 2012.
Although the letter attributes the comments to a Lieutenant General Mokanyane and refers to the “DPCI”, a formal abbreviated name for the Hawks, as “UPCI”, Skommere said this was a typing error and the correct name was Major General Simon Mapyane.
According to the union, the said meeting took place on November 15 in the offices of the Organised Crime Unit.
In the letter Skommere said: “He (Mapyane) informed the meeting that the Hawks will be re-established as a unit outside the SAPS and current serving members will have the right to apply for their positions.”
The letter further alleged that if members were found to be suitable for the job, they would have to resign from the SAPS and the ones who were unsuccessful would have to indicate where they wanted to be placed within the police.
SAPS members who were in the meeting approached the union with this information.
SAPU said the SAPS was in breach of the Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council agreement.
The union demanded that the SAPS confirm or deny in writing that there was no restructuring of the Hawks or intention to do so.
Police spokeswoman Nonkululeko Mbatha said Mkhwanazi received a letter from SAPU, but he did not know anything about the closure of the Hawks.
Hawks spokesman McIntosh Polela said neither he nor the Hawks boss Anwa Dramat knew anything about the unit’s closure.
Polela said Mapyane denied making any statement about the said restructuring of the Hawks.
In May this year the Constitutional Court ruled that part of the national legislation which created the Hawks and disbanded the Directorate of Special Operations known as the Scorpions, was constitutionally invalid.
It further declared that chapter 6A of the South African Police Service Act 68 of 1995 was inconsistent with the constitution and invalid to the extent that it failed to secure an adequate degree of independence for the Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation.
The ruling was suspended for 18 months to allow the government to rectify the legislation.
Asked how the police intended to comply with the judgment, Polela said: “For us this is a non issue… I don’t think it’s necessary to reply to this question.”
Sindi Chikunga, chairwoman of the Police Portfolio Committee, said the amendments to the Police Act would come before Parliament in January next year, and would then be referred to the portfolio committee. – Sunday Independent
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SAPS bid to shut down Hawks – union