From tiger to a pouncing police cat? Ramaphosa is remixing the ‘corrupt’ until a new caretaker arrives

During police training, and in recruit material, there is a massive focus on officers being competent and having integrity in “maintaining a safe and secure society”.

Yet, a new commission of inquiry will investigate how those who oversaw the police allegedly broke these most fundamental and essential promises.

And while “on leave”, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu will be investigated by this commission, the man who will babysit his portfolio until a new acting police minister is in office is not the picture of competence and integrity either.

Gwede Mantashe was appointed caretaker police minister on Tuesday, while all the logistics and paperwork surrounding Firoz Cachalia’s appointment as acting minister are being finalised. Cachalia will take office at the start of August.

Mantashe walks into a department preparing for a commission probe, something he is all too familiar with, having been implicated in a previous commission.

The State Capture commission found that Mantashe may have been involved in corrupt activities and should be criminally investigated by the police. Mantashe has challenged the allegations against him and the commission’s recommendations.

Now he will oversee the same police force that was supposed to investigate his conduct.

A few months after he was implicated, Mantashe swerved a scheduled parliamentary committee meeting investigating corruption at regional offices in the mineral department he headed. It was seen by his critics as a cover-up and protection of criminal elements running amok in the department.

He repeated the trick just last year, publicly defending corruption-accused Zandile Gumede while on the election trail.

There have also been several reports over the last decade of those claiming to be close to Mantashe being implicated in corruption, most recently his son’s appointment to the Seta board, which was reversed due to public pressure.

This is not a good look for a leader who will now be at the helm of a police force allegedly built on cover-ups, criminal connections, and cronyism.

But the decision to appoint a tarnished Mantashe is no surprise. The man who made the call, and who will receive and have to act on the commission’s findings, has admitted to leading a party he described as “accused No. 1” in corruption.

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But how much damage can Mantashe do?

While he may only be police minister for 16 days, it is worth remembering that SA once had a finance minister, Des van Rooyen, who lasted a weekend and caused a catastrophic economic collapse.

Mantashe now has a lot of influence, especially in steadying a turbulent ship. A decisive course correction and action are needed, which he has often failed to take outside of the reported bedroom.

He must rebuild failed confidence in the police service, motivate demoralised officers, be vigilant for cover-ups that may be made ahead of the commission’s start, and prepare the ground for the new acting police minister.

None of that can happen if Mantashe sits on his hands and steals a living in a different ministry for three weeks. It would be worse if the cloud already hanging over the department is darkened by further corruption allegations that seem to follow Mantashe.

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Trouble brewing

It is guaranteed that these 16 days will not be drama-free, especially after the minister in the Presidency responsible for State Security, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, claimed that a coup may have been brewing.

Speaking this week, Ntshavheni revealed that the security cluster identified potential risks of an overthrow of the government. She said the state had put measures in place to prevent it from happening and was confident no attempt would be made.

That shaky assurance came as parliament’s Defence and Military Veterans committee chair, Dakota Legoete, warned that unrest may brew from disgruntled military veterans who turn mercenary.

While there are many in the police and community working hard to keep SA safe, Ramaphosa can’t afford to leave perhaps the biggest tinderbox in the country at the moment in the hands of a sleepy minister who puts himself before those he serves.

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