MANDY WIENER | Why can’t we stop our national commissioners from being accused?

It has now been confirmed that General Fannie Masemola will be charged when he appears in court on 21 April.

He has been linked to the irregular awarding of a multi-million-rand tender to Medicare24. The company is owned by controversial businessman Vusumuzi 'Cat' Matlala.

The investigation into the matter, which began in 2024, has so far led to the arrest of 16 police officials, who appeared before the Pretoria Magistrate's Court today.

We have all seen this movie before, twice, actually.

In 2008, Jackie Selebi was charged with taking bribes from Glenn Agliotti and the Kebbles.

In 2018, Kgomotso Phahlane and his wife were charged with fraud and corruption relating to his time as head of the SAPS Forensic Service.

I’ve always said the position of National Commissioner is a poisoned chalice.

Every single Nascom has been removed from the position in the wake of some kind of scandal. Bheki Cele was suspended over unlawful lease deals, Riah Phiyega was removed after the Marikana massacre findings, and Khehla Sitole faced misconduct and procurement-related controversies.

Why does this keep happening?

Either we are putting the wrong people in the top job, because they are susceptible to wrongdoing and are easily swayed to the dark side. Or they are good people, but are incompetent for the responsibilities associated with the job.

There could be a suggestion that the top police officer in the country is not paid enough, and that makes him or her susceptible to corruption. According to the SAPS annual report 2024/25, the top band of management in the SAPS - senior management and executive authority (levels 13-16) - earn an average compensation of R 1,603,000 a year. There are 817 employees that fall into this category. That means over 800 senior cops are on packages of a bar and a half a year at least.

It is more complex than merely remuneration. The pattern is more realistically the result of structural, political and institutional weaknesses. These repeatedly place the most senior police officer in a compromised position and make them vulnerable.

Historically, this has been because appointments have been political, and career police officers have not been placed in the job. However, Masemola, Sitole and Phahlane are all rank-and-file cops who have progressed through the ranks.

Because the police environment is so heavily politicised, the National Commissioners often have to play politics and are ill-equipped to do so. They find themselves negotiating and manoeuvring through camps, as we have seen at the Madlanga Commission and the Ad-Hoc Committee. They become entangled in factional battles along political lines, and this often means a blurring between law enforcement and politics.

The SAPS has historically also been used to advance political agendas, and individuals get drawn into intelligence battles. Powerful and influential networks can manipulate factions, and this means the service loses its independence and erodes trust. This also weakens institutional integrity.

The position of National Commissioner is also a largely administrative role, and that means the person in the job needs to be able to take responsibility for very large budgets. There are tender processes and allocations for vehicles, property leases, technical equipment and intelligence expenditure. This opens avenues for exploitation. It is often here that scandals take root through tender irregularities or patronage networks.

This is all exacerbated by weak governance and accountability systems. Where wrongdoing is done, there is often no accountability and no tangible action taken.

What is evident is that it may not be about the actual individual who is placed in the position. Instead, it is a deeply systemic problem. Conditions have been created where it is increasingly likely that the same thing will happen repeatedly.

All this results in a broken institution. Until those underlying structural and systemic issues are dealt with, we only expect the cycle to continue.

Hopefully, the very public and thorough exposition of the Madlanga inquiry will provide an opportunity for remedy.

It is progress that Matlala and over a dozen high-ranking cops have been charged this week. This is good. But it is not enough to fix the systemic problem.

We need an entire reset of the SAPS to better insulate it from politicisation and capture by criminal cartels.