Cele scraps high-level police appointments

Police minister Bheki Cele has retracted high-level appointments at managerial level within the SAPS, eNCA reported on Friday morning. 

This follows a private spat between Cele and police commissioner Khehla Sithole earlier this month that found its way into the public domain in the form of a letter addressed to Sithole. 

SABC News reported that the letter accused Sithole of ignoring Cele’s instructions regarding the appointment of senior employees within the SAPS. 

According to eNCA, this will affect the appointment of a new divisional head of crime intelligence, Lieutenant General Yolisa Mokgubudi. It was also reported that the appointments would be legally challenged. 

Mokgubudi was previously the Western Cape provincial commissioner. 

Budget cuts

On Thursday, Cele presented the SAPS budget, and revealed that expenditure in more than one sector of the police will decrease. 

A total of R96.355 billion was presented in Cele’s budget presentation for SAPS, R348.349 million for the Independent Police Investigative Directorate and R148.961 million for the Department of the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service.

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Expenditure is projected to decrease at an average annual rate of 0.8%, from R99.6 billion in 2020-21 to R97.1 billion in 2023-24.

Police salaries will be frozen over the next three years.

Cele said the department allocated more than R1.2 billion on “baseline activities” to fight gender-based violence and femicide. 

R1.142 billion will be spent on family violence, child protection and sexual offences, R30 million on youth, children and vulnerable groups, and R100 million on gender-based violence responses and FCS unit strengthening. 

KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng will receive the most budget for this, with R17.051 million allocated to each province. 

127 scientists have been promoted to critical posts in forensic laboratories, as well as committing to filling 150 posts for forensic analysts at the warrant officer level by 1 July, to address the country’s debilitating DNA backlog.