‘I’m the walking dead’ – Whistleblower survives 2 hits after exposing graft in SAPS

A police whistleblower claims she would be dead today if it were not for efforts of a lone crime intelligence officer who risked his own career to protect her.

But Patricia Morgan-Mashale, who has since been dismissed as an administration clerk in the South African Police Service’s firearms registry division in Bloemfontein lamented that she knew it was a matter of time before she is silenced as her pleas for protection have been ignored.

This despite three threat assessments confirming the threat to her life, recommendations that she be protected, and at least two attempts on her life after blowing the whistle on senior officers involved in corruption.

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Walking dead

Morgan-Mashale, who has been in hiding since February last year, claims the crime intelligence officer who conducted the assessments has been victimised for refusing to reveal her whereabouts.

She said this was after the most recent threat assessment indicating that there was a third attempt to locate and take her out last December.

“I am basically walking dead and there is nothing I can do about it other than documenting everything on social media so that when I am killed, at least I would have spoken out. I also thought by speaking out publicly, those who want to silence me will abandon their plans in fear of being blamed for my death. But all this has been in vain and this is why I believe that I will be killed at the end,” Morgan-Mashale said.

Her nightmare began in 2020, after she reported senior police officers for alleged corruption related to unlawful appointments, including the appointment of foreign nationals in crime intelligence, and irregular promotions.

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Persecuted for doing right

She said no action has been taken against the officers she blew the whistle on, but instead she was fired based on manufactured internal charges that she participated in an illegal strike.

“One of the officers I reported was instead promoted to a major general, from a brigadier, whilst I got fired. I have suffered enormous intimidation, harassment and now I am literally staring death in the face for being a whistleblower,” Morgan-Mashale said.

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Her sin, she said, was blowing the lid on allegations of manipulation of statistics, the appointment of 45 people in crime intelligence without the posts being advertised or interviews being conducted, fraudulent fuel claims, and use of crime intelligence accounts and vehicles for personal matters.

Morgan-Mashale also revealed that a major general used a police vehicle to escort the body of a Chinese national from Welkom to Bloemfontein for cremation, the alleged involvement of senior officers in criminal syndicates, and theft of money meant for an informer.

Charged for protecting whistle-blower

A Bloemfontein detective familiar with the case confirmed her claims and that the crime intelligence officer who had conducted her threat assessments was slapped with supposedly trumped-up charges after he had refused to reveal her hiding place.

The detective said because Morgan-Mashale did not trust anyone with her life and whereabouts, considering those behind the threats were senior police officers, the crime intelligence officer had not revealed her whereabouts in the assessments.

“The assessment report form requires that whoever submit the assessment fill in details on the whereabouts of the target. The crime intelligence office left this space open as he feared it would expose her to the assassins.

“This resulted in him being charged for failure to properly complete an assessment form, but he was not found guilty of any wrongdoing after a disciplinary process,” the detective explained.

The police officer who asked not to be identified for fear of retribution also confirmed that Morgan-Mashale was still in danger and that there were aggressive efforts to find her.

The crime intelligence officer who conducted the threat assessments refused to comment on the matter, as he was not allowed to speak to the media.

Free State Provincial police spokesperson Brig Motantsi Makhele said the matter was handled by the national office and referred The Citizen to national police spokesperson Col Athlenda Mathe, who is yet to respond to questions.

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