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By Peroshni Govender
JOHANNESBURG, June 12 (Reuters) – South African President
Jacob Zuma sacked scandal-tainted police chief Bheki Cele on
Tuesday, a rare dismissal of a senior figure from a government
plagued by perceptions of rampant corruption.
The firing comes just a year after Cele’s predecessor Jackie
Selebi was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 15 years in
prison.
Zuma announced his decision after the government’s
corruption watchdog, the Public Protector, issued a report
saying Cele’s involvement in acquiring police office space for
nearly $100 million was “improper, unlawful and amounted to
maladministration”.
“The reports of the Public Protector and that of the Board
of Inquiry indicate deficiencies administratively, and in
particular in relation to General Cele’s duties as an accounting
officer,” Zuma said in a nationally televised address.
South Africa’s ruling African National Congress and its
governing allies have said corruption in the ranks is eating
away at the integrity of the former liberation movement that has
ruled since the end of apartheid in 1994.
Few believe Cele’s sacking will do much to reduce corruption
or end appointments based on patronage over ability.
Zuma has faced corruption charges but has never been
convicted. An independent security study found more than a third
of the members of the ANC’s powerful National Executive
Committee have faced corruption investigations or been convicted
of graft.
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