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The DA welcomes the investigation by the Independent Police Investigative Directorate’s (Ipid) into allegations involving Police Minister, Fikile Mbalula, and the South African Police Services (SAPS) top brass in a failed bid to defraud Crime Intelligence of R50 million.

Mbalula was allegedly the mastermind behind this failed plot to secure funds to buy votes at the ANC’s elective conference in December last year.

The public deserves to know the full truth about the Minister and Police Commissioner Khehla Sithole’s possible involvement in this alleged act of criminality.

The DA will not sit back and allow for any member of the SAPS to involve themselves in the internal politics of a political party.

The SAPS is mandated in terms of the Constitution “to prevent, combat and investigate crime, to maintain public order, to protect and secure the inhabitants of the Republic and their property, to uphold and enforce the law.”

If these allegations prove to be indeed true, that General Sithole was present at this meeting, serious questions have to be asked as to his ability to carry out the mandate of his job without fear or favour.

This speaks to the leadership crisis at SAPS, a matter that the DA has constantly asked to be resolved with the urgency it deserves.

It cannot be that in a country with such high levels of crime, the leaders entrusted with the sole responsibility of ensuring the safety of South Africans and guarding against corruption, involve themselves in such underhanded dealings.

Minister Mbalula should also know better than to use the SAPS to further his own political ends or the political ends of any other person for that matter.

Bribery is a serious criminal offence and the guardians of our law and order can’t be the very people breaking it. Heads must roll as our people deserve better than potentially compromised individuals at the helm of taking this country forward.

The DA urges Minister Mbalula to take the public into full confidence and inform South Africans about the truth surrounding his alleged involvement in the matter immediately.

Issued by DA