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INLSA<\/p>\n
General Bheki Cele<\/p>\n
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An unfazed General Bheki Cele said he spent yesterday morning working out at the gym with the English rugby team, even as reports of his imminent sacking as national police commissioner circulated in the national media. <\/p>\n
He had not been told he was to be fired, he said, and the first he had heard about it was in the media. <\/p>\n
\u201cI heard from you that I am fired,\u201d he told The Mercury, adding that he felt \u201cvery, very good\u201d, and that he had \u201cno stress\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t suffer from Mdluli\u2019s disease,\u201d he joked, referring to reports of suspended crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli being gravely ill. <\/p>\n
Cele\u2019s comments come after The Mercury was told by three police sources he had been fired. <\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI hope the president speaks soon, so one can deal with facts rather than rumours.\u201d <\/p>\n
Yesterday, Cele dined at his favourite fish restaurant in Durban\u2019s posh Florida Road area where he had a subdued lunch with three female companions. Unaccompanied by bodyguards or an entourage, Cele kept a low profile as he arrived alone in a white Jeep SUV. <\/p>\n
But his trademark Panama hat gave away his identity and a few well wishers at the restaurant approached him to greet him and he shook hands with them and chatted for a few minutes. Cele, who did not appear to be his usual lively self, said he was enjoying his lunch and did not want to talk to the media. <\/p>\n
One of his companions said: \u201cIt is our time to bond with him.\u201d <\/p>\n
Presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj again refused to comment on \u201crumours\u201d and \u201cspeculation\u201d over what action President Jacob Zuma might take after considering Judge Jake Moloi\u2019s report on the police lease-deals scandal. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe rumours remain rumours. The speculation remains speculation,\u201d Maharaj said. <\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t say (the rumours) are not true. I will say when the president informs me.\u201d <\/p>\n
He said to comment \u201ceither way\u201d would give the rumours \u201clegs\u201d and would be \u201cpre-empting\u201d a decision by the president. <\/p>\n
He said Zuma was \u201cstudying\u201d Moloi\u2019s report, but would not comment on what progress had been made in this regard. <\/p>\n
Asked whether the president was considering calls for a more transparent process to appoint a new national police commissioner, with speculation rife that Zuma might replace Cele with Nathi Nhleko, director-general of the Department of Labour and another old colleague of Zuma\u2019s from KwaZulu-Natal, Maharaj said people could \u201cmake all their calls\u201d. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf they want to re-write the constitution, they can. You make these calls because you think you can do a better job (than the president),\u201d Maharaj said. <\/p>\n
Cele\u2019s spokesman, Vuyo Mkhize, said the suspended commissioner was ready to take the fight to the courts. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not preparing. Right now we are prepared. The legal papers are prepared,\u201d Mkhize said. <\/p>\n
\u201cLet me confirm we have every intention of pursuing this matter all the way to the courts, to ensure (Moloi\u2019s) report is declared legally unsound and invalid.\u201d <\/p>\n
He said legal papers would be filed \u201cas soon as an official decision is made as to whether the general keeps his job\u201d. <\/p>\n
He said legal processes could be pursued even if Cele was not sacked. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want the report to be erased from the public record. This process would have to be initiated (by the president). It would be up to him.\u201d <\/p>\n
He said they had not heard from the presidency, but were in no rush to contact it either. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are happy to bide our time. Bear in mind that we have waited for nine months now. So what\u2019s one more hour or one more day,\u201d he asked. <\/p>\n
He said Cele would be happy to serve in another position, if asked. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe general\u2019s passion is about service delivery in general \u2013 not just policing. So if the ANC were to say to him he should redirect his passion to delivering exercise books to schools, you can bet your bottom dollar he will bring the same passion, enthusiasm and efficiency to that task,\u201d Mkhize said. <\/p>\n
Cope MP and spokesman on police Leonard Ramatlakane said the party was concerned by Zuma\u2019s \u201csilence in the midst of reports\u201d Cele had been fired. He said the allegations against Cele were so damning he should not continue in his position. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe should have resigned soon after the public protector released her findings,\u201d Ramatlakane said. <\/p>\n
\u201cCope believes the inevitable firing of Cele, whose office has been riddled with unpopular decisions, will help stabilise the destroyed police morale.\u201d <\/p>\n
Freedom Front Plus MP and spokesman on police Pieter Groenewald said Zuma should make his decision public. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf the speculation is true that Cele has already been fired the question arises why Zuma has not announced it. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe lingering of Zuma is creating further uncertainty and undermining the morale in the police,\u201d Groenewald said. <\/p>\n
\u201cFurther allegations that Cele wants to return to politics in KwaZulu-Natal are also creating the impression that Zuma is waiting until Cele is politically accommodated, but in the meantime Cele is still receiving a salary.\u201d <\/p>\n
He said \u201ccertainty in the police\u201d would be in the national interest. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
INLSA General Bheki Cele An unfazed General Bheki Cele said he spent yesterday morning working out at the gym with the English rugby team, even as reports of his imminent sacking as national police commissioner circulated in the national media. He had not been told he was to be fired, he said, and the first […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[8275,953,2143],"class_list":{"0":"post-11286","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-south-africa","7":"tag-durban","8":"tag-newspaper","9":"tag-the-mercury","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11286\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}