Durban – The SAPS crime intelligence unit has been a law unto itself, a report says.
The unit has had “a bit of a blank cheque” to do as it pleases – abusing its slush fund and encroaching on the domain of the State Security Agency in the process.
This has cost taxpayers millions of rand and created serious tension between the two law enforcement agencies.
This is contained in the Green Paper on policing, also known as the “bible of policing”, put together by the Civilian Secretariat of Police and released for public comment this week.
The Green Paper comes as a number of crime intelligence unit members face criminal charges for, among other things, illegally benefiting from the “slush fund”.
In 2011, the unit’s former head Richard Mdluli was charged with fraud and corruption for allegedly misusing the fund.
On April 20 this year, crime intelligence unit chief financial officer Major-General Solly Lazarus and the unit’s head of logistics, Colonel Hein Barnard, appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court.
Both have been suspended after being charged with theft, fraud and corruption involving R1.1 million.
The two have been ordered not to contact politicians or cabinet ministers or discuss the case with them.
“One of the main problems faced by crime intelligence is that it has had a bit of a ‘blank cheque’. This has allowed officers to operate in areas that traditionally fall within the domain of the State Security Agency. This blurring of the lines between crime intelligence and state security has led to serious tensions and issues relating to a lack of accountability within crime intelligence,” reads the report.
The green paper further stated that “there is a difference” between national security intelligence and law enforcement intelligence.
“Law enforcement intelligence should support the development of evidence for prosecution of criminal cases and be able to identify crime risks and crime information that can support policing approaches and the efficient deployment of resources,” reads the document.
Zweli Mnisi, spokesman for Minister of Police Nathi Mthethwa, said the “blank cheque” reference in the Green Paper was just a metaphor referring to how certain officials had “carte blanche” going beyond their required responsibilities.
“The Green Paper on policing will be like the bible of policing in the future. But it’s not the alpha and omega of policing, which is why it’s being put out before the public,” said Mnisi.
He said the documents touched on the general “environment of crime intelligence and not really the slush fund”.
“It’s looking at all those elements in totality. There has been abuse of power.
“It notes the overlap and will give more clarity of roles,” said Mnisi.
The Green Paper dismissed the notion that the military ranks introduced by former police commissioner Bheki Cele had led to the “militarisation” of the police service.
The Mercury
