EFF lashes out against appointment of new commissioner

MBOMBELA – The appointment of a convicted criminal as Mpumalanga’s new head of police on Monday has outraged several opposing political parties. One of these is the EFF which expressed its dissatisfaction about Lt Gen Mondli Zuma’s appointment in a strongly worded media statement.

“The appointment of Zuma as the new provincial commissioner is a disgrace and an embarrassment to the broader police service, given his track record and his personal brash with the law,” provincial EFF chairman, Mr Collen Sedibe said.

Zuma replaces Lt Gen Mark Magadlela who was appointed Mpumalanga police commissioner in February last year.
No media statement about Zuma’s appointment was issued and Lowvelder‘s various attempts to get answers have been ignored.

Also read: New police commissioner plans to crack down on corruption

This is not the first time that Zuma’s appointment as a provincial police head have made headlines. Suspended national police commissioner, former Gen Riah Phiyega, appointed him as police commissioner of Gauteng in August 2013.

This appointment was withdrawn only hours later when it became known that Zuma had been charged with drunken driving, attempting to escape from lawful custody and defeating the ends of justice in 2008.

The court case was pending at the time. It was later withdrawn after Zuma pleaded not guilty. However, he pleaded guilty of having lost a firearm and paid a fine. Having been convicted of contravening the Firearms Control Act, he has a criminal record.

“By nature and character, police officers should always be people with high morale standing and command respect and integrity in the society. However, with Zuma, this is the opposite because he has always find himself on the wrong side of the law. It is a well known fact that Mpumlanga is the corruption hub of South Africa, with most of the politicians and senior government officials both at provincial and municipalities levels facing criminal as well as fraud and corruption charges.

“The question that needs to be answered therefore is how Zuma is going to intensify the fight against crime and corruption? The cases against this politicians and officials (sic) do not disappear without trace like his service pistol,” Sedibe continued.

“How is he going to make sure that all people of Mpumalanga regardless of political power, authority or influence like premier, Mr David Mabuza, are equal before the law, when he is on the wrong side of the law himself?”

Sedibe said that the EFF sympathises with all disciplined, corrupt free and professional police officers and call upon all of them to stand up and fight for their rights to be recognized and be appointed to higher positions based on their experience, skills, qualifications, professionalism, morale standing in the society and integrity without being friends or aligned to any politicians.

“We also call upon all the people of Mpumalanga as a province known for unaccounted political killings and corruption, to reject the appointment of Zuma as he was rejected in Gauteng. Mpumalanga should not be a dumping side of corrupt people and rejects from other provinces that must come to an end now.”

Lowvelder enquired about Zuma’s appointment from provincial police spokesman, Brig Selvy Mohlala, who said only the national spokesmen could answer the publication’s questions since the appointment was made on a national level.

The newspaper then sent detailed questions to national police spokesman, Brig Hangwani Mulaudzi. These included, among others, whether Zuma had been declared unfit to possess a firearm following his conviction.

Mulaudzi acknowledged receipt of the questions and undertook to answer. He did not.