MANDY WIENER | Shades of Selebi, Krejcir and Mdluli: We have seen this telenovela before

The themes are of greed, betrayal, rivalries, power struggles and personal dynamics.

What we see playing out at the Madlanga Inquiry in Pretoria and at the ad-hoc committee hearings in Parliament are providing daily instalments of the latest popular soap opera in town.

But this is not the first season of this telenovela.

Police wars. Police capture. Politicisation of the police. We have been watching this on repeat since the early 2000s.

Over the past twenty years, I have reported extensively on policing, the prosecuting authority, politics and the criminal underworld. The patterns and networks that are being exposed are reminiscent of previous scandals. Names and dates can merely be replaced.

What has changed are the stakes, the value of the money flows and the degree of disregard for accountability.

In any criminal syndicate, certain elements are required for the network to function.

Police officers who are on the take, preferably at a high-ranking level, to exercise influence over lower officers who are working crime scenes.

Bootson the ground to do dirty work are also necessary.

Deep-pocketed businessmen who cultivate relationships with the cops and bankroll them in exchange for protection, achieving untouchable status.

The button men hired assassins who operate in the criminal realm, who are paid to execute and apply pressure in the interests of the cabal.

Powerful politicians who provide protection for the syndicate and manoeuvre political patronage in exchange for a slice of the pie, a luxurious lifestyle and fulfilment of career ambitions.

There is often contraband of some form that is at the heart of the syndicate. In the past, it has been narcotics shipments or illegal cigarettes. Presently, it is government tenders.

In the early 2000s, the National Police Commissioner and head of Interpol, Jackie Selebi, was convicted of taking money from drug dealer Glenn Agliotti. The crime that blew the lid open on the syndicate was the shooting of mining magnate Brett Kebble. The shooter in that case was Mikey Schultz. What was ultimately exposed was Kebble’s political connections to the ANC, how he had bought the influence of Selebi and how an international drug syndicate was using South Africa as a springboard.

In the 2010s, the network that was prevalent centred around Czech fugitive Radovan Krejcir and the politically connected Cyril Beeka. Krejcir had top police generals on his payroll, allegedly including Gauteng commissioner Joey Mabasa, head of detectives Lieutenant General Vinesh Moonoo, and then Hawks head Shadrack Sibiya, although all denied this. Almost a dozen assassinations were linked to Krejcir and the hitmen, including Siboniso Miya, who were convicted.

Change the names and the dates, and you could just as easily be watching an episode featuring Minister Senzo Mchunu, Brown Mogotsi, Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala, KT Molefe et al, though, let it be said, no findings of guilt have been made, and all those named deny any wrongdoing.

Similarly, the fractious in-fighting within the SAPS has been playing out on repeat in various instalments, and it invariably has a political connotation to it.

Cast your mind back to the ANC conference and succession battle in 2012.

Head of Crime Intelligence, the highly controversial Richard Mdluli, was charged with busing the CI slush fund and subsequently with murder. Mdluli was reinstated to his position ostensibly to help then-President Jacob Zuma spy on rivals. Already then, a decade and a half ago, there were warnings about the growing politicisation of the police and attempts by political elites to spy on each other, settle scores, and influence the ANC leadership battles. In 2017, police funds were allegedly looted to buy votes. R45 million from the secret fund, ostensibly meant to buy intercepting technology, went to funding delegates.

Currently, at the Madlanga Inquiry and the ad-hoc committee in Parliament, we are seeing factional wars within law enforcement play out. It is becoming increasingly apparent that this may also be a result of succession ambitions in the ANC. Police Minister Senzo Mchunu was tipped to be one of the front-runners to succeed Ramaphosa, and this scandal and his placement on special leave will likely scupper that bid.

This week, his predecessor, Bheki ele, told the inquiry that Vusimuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala informed him that he was using the police’s procurement processes to help fund Police Mchunu’s ANC political campaign.

Cele admitted to knowing Matlala, who had a multi-million-rand tender with the police.

But Cele insisted he was not friends with Matlala.

When I heard that, I was immediately transported back to the famous Jackie Selebi interview in which he claimed Glenn Agliotti was his ‘friend, finish and klaar’.

What is evident is that over the past two decades, not enough has been done to stem the tide and change the pattern. History continues to repeat itself.

Instituting an inquiry into the police is a necessary step, but the scope is too limited. While it may not be realistically possible, ideally, the time frame covered should go back two decades.

To really understate the politicisation of the police and capture of the cops by criminal syndicates, you must go much, much further back to the original seasons of this soap opera.