President appoints General Puleng Dimpane as acting police commissioner, to join acting police minister

President Cyril Ramaphosa has moved to suspend National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola as a precaution and appointed an acting national police commissioner, Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane, in his place.

Most of the top ranks of the police are now held by acting officers, while Police Minister Firoz Cachalia is also in an acting capacity.

Asked if this was a problem, Ramaphosa, speaking at the Union Buildings on Thursday, 23 April, said, “Yes, we do have too many people acting in positions, and we are going to address that specific issue. There is an inherent weakness in people just continuing to act.”

Dimpane joined the police in 2007 as the Free State provincial commander of internal audit and then became the province’s major general for asset management. She was appointed as Divisional Commissioner for Financial Management Services of the SAPS in 2018 – a position she still holds.

In that role, she attracted both criticism and praise after appearing before the parliamentary ad hoc inquiry and the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry, both of which are probing criminalisation and corruption within the police.

Dimpane said she raised questions about the Medicare24 tender won by alleged organised crime boss Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala in her role as finance chief of the police budget, but MPs probed how it had then been awarded. Additionally, she faced questions about the escalating budget (more than R435-million) of the Political Killings Task Team, the unit headed by KZN provincial commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi that is central to the Madlanga Commission.

“The Madlanga Commission of Inquiry is uncovering critical information that is helping us rebuild the police service,” said Ramaphosa, who also defended the Zondo Commission of Inquiry into State Capture, saying that both laid the basis for reform of the criminal justice system.

Masemola has been charged under the Public Finance Management Act, which entrusts senior leaders with high-level responsibilities in public spending. Dimpane, as CFO, would have had similar responsibilities.

Dimpane told the parliamentary inquiry that written warnings and corrective counselling for irregular expenditure in the police had little effect.

Unlike with the Zondo Commission, the state is moving much more quickly to act on findings from and testimony before the Madlanga Commission as they emerge.

Masemola will appear in May with 12 other police officers facing charges for facilitating Matlala’s police wellness contract – called the Medicare24 Tshwane contract after the company name. It was scoped at an initial R360-million, of which R228-million is at issue in court.

DM