Mpumalanga police spokesperson Brigadier Selvy Mohlala has been suspended.

He now faces disciplinary procedures in relation to a December interview he gave on Newzroom Afrika, wherein he said that Mpumalanga Provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Semakaleng Daphney Manamela did nothing wrong by allegedly accepting around R2.1m in state-funded gifts to celebrate her 2021 appointment.

According to a reliable source, Mohlala received the notice of suspension yesterday, following the interview on December 28, which is still on Facebook.

He was suspended for allegedly contravening the SAPS’s discipline regulations, knowing that a national probe was underway following internal testimony into Manamela’s actions.

Apart from stating that the provincial commissioner did nothing wrong by accepting gifts to the value of over R2m, Mohlala further accused a former Mpumalanga police commissioner who allegedly headed a forensic investigation into the lavish welcome of Manamela, of having also benefited from internal tea-club donations during his run as police chief.

The former provincial commissioner retired from the SAPS in 2014. He is now a forensic investigator and allegedly investigated Manamela pro bono, despite Manamela not being his immediate successor.

Mohlala, according to the interview, even provided video evidence he urged Newzroom Afrika to publish, seemingly to prove the former commissioner of alleged hypocrisy.

According to the charge, Mohlala undermined the authority of the national commissioner to institute processes in terms of section 6 and 9 of the SAPS Act of 1995.

Manamela was suspended in February, but her suspension was set aside by the Pretoria High Court in March. She is still in her position as Mpumalanga’s top cop but the Middelburg Observer has been told by a reliable source that the inquiry is ongoing.

Apart from the tea-club contributions from across the province, she is also accused of nepotism, abuse of power and corruption in the forensic report, which resulted in the national probe into her office.

Manamela denies the allegations.