Former police minister says that the decline of SAPS was deliberate

Former Police Minister and National Commissioner Bheki Cele has told Parliament that the decline in the capacity of the South African Police Service (SAPS) and the justice system in general was a deliberate move by those in power.

The leadership of the country, particularly under former President Jacob Zuma, worked hard to “take teeth out of the bulldog to do whatever they wanted,” said Cele.

The former minister was answering questions posed by the EFF’s Leigh-Ann Mathys in Parliament’s Ad-Hoc committee investigating allegations by Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi of a criminal justice system capture.

In Cele’s testimony on 23 and 24 October, he praised the work of the controversial former National Commissioner of Police, Jackie Selebi.

During his 2000 to 2009 tenure, Cele said that Selebi “did great work in stabilising SAPS and building internal structurers.”

In 2009, a corruption case against Selebi kicked off. Prosecution alleged he had accepted bribes and gifts from underworld giants Brett Kebble, Glenn Agliotti, and businessman Muller Conrad Rautenbach.

In exchange, Selebi had allegedly provided information about police investigations and preferential police treatment.

Selebi was convicted of corruption in July 2010 and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment. He was later granted medical parole.

Former KwaZulu-Natal Safety MEC Cele was appointed as Selebi’s successor in 2009, saying that he continued the “solid work” of Selebi by building capacity in the SAPS.

Then in 2011, Zuma removed Cele as National Commissioner, which Cele attributes to him not bending the knee to “unlawful” instructions from former President Jacob Zuma. However, his tenure ended amid corruption allegations

Cele was briefly replaced by Mkhwanazi, who was removed in 2012, citing the same reasons.

Riah Phiyega was appointed as National Commissioner of the Police in June 2012 by Zuma.

This appointment, Cele said, marked the start of the decline of the SAPS.

No idea why she was appointed – Cele

Given that such appointments are the prerogative of the President alone, Cele said that he does not have an inch of understanding as to why Phiyega was appointed.

Phiyega holds a BA in Social Work from the University of the North, a BA Hons and MA in Social Sciences from Unisa and the University of Johannesburg, and a postgraduate diploma in Business Administration from the University of Wales.

She has held senior roles in both the private and public sectors, including executive positions at Absa Bank and Transnet.

In government service, Phiyega was vice chair of the Independent Commission for Remuneration of Public Office Bearers, served on the 2010 FIFA World Cup Bid Committee, and was commissioner for the Road Accident Fund Commission.

She was appointed to the top job of the SAPS by the president in 2012, despite having no prior policing experience.

“I don’t know what would trigger or even have given an inch of understanding or thinking why Riah Phiyega could be National Commissioner. No-idea,” said Cele.

Asked by Mathys if the decline of the capacity of SAPS was a deliberate process or gradual neglect, Cele said that it “was deliberate.”

“The structures that were there, operational and manegerial, were dismanteled.”

He said that this was not unique to the SAPS, but the entire justice cluster. He said that career prosecutors and officers with integrity of the National Prosecuting Authority and the State Security Agency were quickly thrown out.

“Was it an accident? No. The leadership, under President Zuma, was taking the teeth out the bulldog to do what they wanted to do.”

A comparative analysis of South African crime statistics shows a significant uptick during Phiyega’s tenur.

Under Cele, violent crime rates remained high but relatively stable, with murders hovering around 15,800 annually and a murder rate of approximately 32.9 per 100,000 people by 2010/2011, close to a post-apartheid low.

Aggravated robberies totaled around 120,000, and reported rapes stood at roughly 59,000 per year.

In contrast, crime trends shifted upward under Phiyega, with the Institute for Security Studies noting murders began “increasing consistently” from 2012 onward.

By 2014/2015, murders rose to 17,800 (a 34 per 100,000 rate), a 13% increase from Cele’s era.

Aggravated robberies climbed 10% to 130,000, and rapes increased 9% to 62,000.

Factors cited included leadership instability following Phiyega’s appointment and the 2012 Marikana Massacre response, where 34 miners were killed, alongside police firearm leaks to gangs and budget cuts hampering detective training.

By 2015, public perception of safety had deteriorated, fueled by rising violent crime and expert warnings of worsening trends, according to the Institute for Security Studies.

In 2015, after a three-year inquiry into the 2012 Marikana killings of 34 miners, the Farlam Commission recommended investigating Phiyega’s fitness for office.

She argued she had only been on the job for two months and had inherited an unworkable police service from Cele.

The commission also found she allowed political considerations to influence her decisions and failed to act impartially, though provincial police commanders publicly supported her.

Phiyega was suspended by Zuma on October 14, 2015.

A subsequent investigation by a group appointed by Police Minister Nkosinathi Nhleko concluded she had committed bypassed internal processes in demoting and removing senior officials.