Top chop! Senior cops ‘fried’ over Bheki Cele’s pork demands

Police Minister Bheki Cele has been in the spotlight for two reasons this week: The South African Police Service (Saps) budget vote presentation in Parliament on Tuesday, 23 May… preceded by an “almost criminal” request for pork at a Halaal-accredited training facility.

According to Sunday World, Cele had allegedly demanded a meal of grilled pork during a visit to the Saps Tshwane Academy.

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No pork in a halaal kitchen?! Bheki Cele redeploys top officials

When the minister’s appetite for pork was not satisfied due to the Halaal kitchen, the academy’s training commander Brigadier Paulus Mphenyeke and support services manager Colonel Freddie Bakker, were reportedly unceremoniously removed from their posts.

Mphenyeke and Bakker were redeployed immediately to the national office by National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola for their “recalcitrance” to serve Cele his slice of pork.

Approached for comment on the “pork saga”, National Police Spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said:

“The Saps does not discuss its internal matters, which include the transfer or redeployment of members, in the public domain.”

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Budget vote speech: R102bn for Saps

Cele tabled a budget of R102 billion for the Saps during the 2023/2024 financial year.

The police minister; who has recently come under fire for law enforcement’s handling of the Thabo Bester prison escape saga, said R357 million will be allocated to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid).

At the same time, R150 million will be set aside for the Department of the Civilian Secretariat for Police Service.

“Departmental spending over the medium term is in relation to the core programmes with visible policing consisting of more than 51% of the total Vote in 2023/24,” Cele told MPs in the National Assembly.

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Saps budget key points

• More than R1 billion is allocated for the construction and upgrading of police stations.
• In addition, R30 million is allocated for the procurement and conversion of vehicles to ensure more mobile community service centres are available, and R25 million will be granted to provinces for modifications to safeguard police stations.
• Provinces with the highest incidence of reported crime will receive an additional R65 million.
• R20 million is allocated for initiatives related to firearm licensing and compliance, and enforcement of the Firearms Control Act.
• An action plan has been developed to respond to crimes related to gender-based violence and Femicide (GBVF), vulnerable groups and sexual offences.
• This plan also focuses on the resourcing of Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) units, both at the national and provincial levels, with a total of R1.3-billion allocated for proactive and reactive responses to these crimes.
• An additional R100-million is allocated to provinces for the prioritisation of GBVF response and the strengthening of FCS units.
• R70-million is allocated to the provinces to support community policing forums (CPFs). This funding will assist the CPFs with resources such as vehicles, laptops, torches, reflective jackets and other tools of the trade.

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Cele eyes retired detectives for crime intelligence

Cele also revealed that Saps is recruiting retired detectives “in good standing” to Crime Intelligence to increase its capacity to deal with crime.

In high-crime regions, the procurement of drones, body-worn cameras, and Shot Spotters was cited as a priority. Saps was, according to the minister, training more officers to fly drones and recruiting pilot interns.

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