City of Johannesburg mayor Geoff Makhubo has revealed that Chief of Metro Police David Tembe would be asked to step aside and allow investigations on allegations against him to be carried out when the time comes.
Makhubo was addressing the media during a briefing held at the Metro centre on 19 February. He said that the JMPD was dysfunctional and had management problems. He added that since before the ANC reclaimed power over the City, he received complaints about Tembe’s conduct and, as a result, requested the Public Protector to investigate.
Makhubo said there was blatant and illegal political interference at the JMPD to suit the office of the former mayor Herman Mashaba and its political allies. He further said that there was abuse of JMPD resources and members to protect and escort councillors and private citizens who neither qualified nor deserved the services.
“We think that the former mayor and MMC were not firmly in charge of the JMPD. Somebody else was. We are cutting that cord…..we’re cutting the oxygen. We are taking firm charge of JMPD now and the investigations are part of it. As we speak today, there is no outside force that controls JMPD or any other department in the City. There’s only one centre and the centre is a government of local unity,” said Makhubo. However, Makhubo did not reveal who the outside force was.
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These revelations came after The Sowetan published a damning report of a leaked audio clip where MMC for Public Safety Mally Mokoena orders the head of the department William Mazibuko, to suspend Tembe immediately. The audio was allegedly recorded during a meeting where 13 officers that were suspended by Tembe last year,were tabling their grievances. Makhubo said it was unfortunate that Mokoena was captured in a ‘secretly and manipulated’ recording calling for action to be taken in the interest of the JMPD. Makhubo denied that Mokoena’s orders were political interference in the operations of the Metro Police Department.
“Only this morning, my office received a further letter of grievance from the JMPD citing allegations and cases lodged against the Chief of Police in April 2019 that were left unattended despite the City’s appointment of a legal firm to investigate and report on the allegations. There seem to have been political interference to frustrate the investigation thus rendering the process and expenditure on Werksman fruitless, ” added Makhubo.
Makhubo added that he approached the City manager to seek discussions on measures to bring stability in the JMPD and one of them was to resuscitate the investigation. “The Chief was appointed through Council. Process will be followed through Council. We will lodge an investigation into all allegations and while we do that we will ask him step aside,” said Makhubo.
Spokesperson for JMPD Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said Tembe was out of the country and he could not comment on his behalf. “The Chief is currently out of the country and I cannot comment on allegations levelled against him.”
Who do you think the mayor was referring to as somebody who controlled the JMPD?
