Bheki Cele’s monumental meltdown: Twitter reacts

Did Police Minister Bheki Cele get what was coming to him?

While die-hard ANC supporters argue that Action Society director Ian Cameron should have addressed Cele ‘with the respect’ automatically bequeathed to government ministers, a video of Cameron’s comments preceding Cele’s monumental meltdown has surfaced.

Cameron called out Cele for ‘politicising crime’ saying that victims want justice and ordinary South Africans who are affected by high crime rates don’t care about his comments on the constitution and devolution.

Cameron was referring to Cele‘s response to calls from Western Cape leaders for the South African Police Service to be managed at the provincial level.

His comments clearly rubbed Cele up the wrong way, who’s been under constant fire since last year’s July riots and most recently the Enyobeni tragedy, in which 21 children were killed in a tavern in the Eastern Cape.

Cameron was then forcefully removed from the venue by the police.

Speaking to Bongani Bingwa on 702 Radio on Wednesday, Cameron said Cele needed to “grow up”.

So far, support seems to be tilted in favour of Cameron who threw down the gauntlet to Cele and challenged him to walk the country’s high-risk crime areas in plain clothes, as an ordinary citizen, before politicising crime.

Cele attends Enyobeni mass funeral

Meanwhile, Cele will be attending the mass funeral for the 21 children who lost their lives at the Enyobeni Tavern back in June.

Speaking to reporters at the Scenery Park Sports Field in East London on Wednesday, the police minister said he was there to mourn the tragic loss and would not be discussing the investigation into the deaths.

Cele, however, confirmed that he received the report, but added: “It will be dealt with when other reports have been finalised. The less said the better.”

ALSO READ: WATCH: ‘You consider me a garden boy!’ – Bheki Cele berates crime activist

‘Tit for tat political spat’

Back in February, President Cyril Ramaphosa received growing calls from the public to fire SA’s police minister.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomed Ramaphosa’s decision to terminate former National Police Commission Khehla Sitole’s employment but said he “must follow suit if the president is serious about starting the hard work of rebuilding trust and credibility” in the South African Police Service (Saps).

NOW READ: Calls mount for Ramaphosa to fire Bheki Cele following Sitole’s axing

Additional reporting by Narissa Subramoney and Thapelo Lekabe.