According to reports, his driver shot at the suspects
A police general has survived an attempted hijacking west of Johannesburg.
It is understood that Major General Fred Kekana, the acting Gauteng Provincial Police Commissioner, was targeted in a failed hijacking at his Westonaria home on Monday morning.
The major general’s white BMW state vehicle was apparently targeted by the hijackers while the driver was waiting for Kekana outside his house.
Hijacking
Kekana, who was back to work hours after the incident, said the suspects were travelling in a blue BMW.
“When he [Kekana’s driver] was about to reverse, the passenger in that BMW smashed the window with an iron rod, not knowing that the windows are protected or shatterproof.
“The driver had to defend himself, and those things dropped the firearm and ran away. It’s under investigation,” Kekana said.
According to reports, his driver shot at the suspects, who fled, leaving a firearm behind in Kekana’s yard.
The attempted hijacking comes less than a day after President Cyril Ramaphosa placed Police Minister Senzo Mchunu on an immediate “leave of absence” amid allegations of links to organised crime
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Targets
Ian Cameron, Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police, told The Citizen that the police are being targeted.
“I think they are being targeted, there’s no doubt. I think the good cops, along with the relevant whistleblowers on the outside, who provide support to them, whether from private institutions or civil society, there’s no doubt that they’re being targeted.
“Look at, for example, very competent and in my opinion beacons of integrity from the Hawks that have been assassinated over the past few years, and there are quite a few,” Cameron said.
High-profile
Cameron said he believes that high-ranking police officers are being targeted.
“In my opinion, especially when it comes to the higher-ranking assassinations, I think a lot of it is linked.
“The more we scratch around on what General [Nhlanhla] Mkhwanazi said, no matter who you believe or don’t believe, it just seems that it’s a tip of the iceberg and then it’s a bigger syndicate type operation that has been operating in South Africa and at face value it sometimes seems to be normal state of business activity where in actual fact it’s a front for syndicated operations.”
Ramaphosa took action after KZN Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi last week alleged that Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu interfered in police investigations. He also claimed that a syndicate was operating in Gauteng, involving a drug cartel, politicians and police officials.
ALSO READ: Ramaphosa’s decision to place Mchunu on leave of absence ‘an illusion of reform’
