Court blocks Mpumalanga police commissioner’s attempt to stop fraud investigation

Mpumalanga’s top cop, Lieutenant General Semakaleng Manamela, is back in the firing line after the Pretoria High Court rejected her bid to prevent herself from being investigated for alleged fraud.

Manamela faced a string of allegations when she was fingered in a forensic report drafted by former provincial police commissioner Lieutenant General Thulani Ntobela.

The forensic audit by iFirm, a company owned by Ntobela, was done after he had been approached by several frustrated senior police officers working under Manamela.

The report highlighted incidents of alleged fraud, mismanagement as well as overstepping of powers when Manamela allegedly transferred senior officers without having the authority to do so.

General Fannie Masemola, the national police commissioner, appointed a board of inquiry last year to investigate Manamela’s fitness to hold the position of provincial commissioner.

One of the aspects they had to investigate was allegations of irregularly receiving gifts amounting to more than R1.7m. It is alleged  she had received gifts and money from various police stations’ tea club funds.

Tea club funds are meant, among other reasons, to buy food for prisoners awaiting trial.

On September 18, 2023, she was served with a charge sheet by Masemola and was instructed to appear before the board. However, she applied to the high court for an interdict to prevent the investigation from going ahead.

On April 5, Judge J Makhoba rejected Manamela’s application. This leaves the door open for Masemola to continue with legal actions against her.

Questions sent to Manamela for comment went unanswered by the time of publishing.