Chairperson, the police are constitutionally mandated:
to prevent, combat and investigate crime, to maintain public order, to protect and secure the inhabitants of the Republic and their property, and to uphold and enforce the law.
In our society, in which families and communities are being torn apart and ravaged by high levels of violent crime, the police are nothing short of an essential service. Yet our country has reached a defining political moment as we debate today the Budget Vote for this most crucial entity, the South African Police Service. The SAPS has asked this House to approve an appropriation of R62,45 billion.
Now, the question being asked by every reporter, political analyst and citizen - and which should be asked by every politician - in this country is: Is there political interference within the service? After joining the dots, the conclusion is that President Zuma has quite possibly reached into the SAPS to protect a police officer accused of fraud, murder and corruption, one Richard Mdluli, the controversially reinstated head of Crime Intelligence.
One has to ask if the sudden shift of Richard Mdluli announced a few moments ago would ever have happened if it had not been for the pressure from the DA and a free media. [Interjections.] One has to ask why on earth the Minister did not suspend the man, because he is under investigation. That is what should have happened in this House today. [Interjections.]
This man, within a matter of months, had been pushed into one of the most powerful positions held by any individual in the country. He was the person who could approach a judge to request communication interceptions - the only person - and even the allegedly independent Hawks had to go to him, cap in hand, asking if he would apply for communication interceptions for investigations on their behalf. He also swept the VIP Protection Unit under his control, so he had a heavily armed team reporting on the movement of politicians 24 hours a day. He had the ability to tap the phone calls of politicians as well as criminals, which is a tantalising fruit for someone who allegedly avoided prosecution as a result of secret recordings of telephone conversations.
This was and, frankly, to a large extent still is, the elephant in the living room. I refer to the situation as "the elephant in the living room" because while we discuss budgets; the 27 000 SAPS members who have firearms without licences; the 150 police stations that are without electricity, water, toilets or all three; the fact that the Department of Public Works regularly forgets to pay the rent on the dozens of SAPS buildings it oversees, which means SAPS members are locked out by angry landlords - while we discuss these matters - no one anywhere in government dared to confront the issue of Richard Mdluli until the official opposition and civil society put their foot down. Everyone knows he is there, but within government extreme care is taken to avoid discussing him. After all, with him at the helm of the police, one faction could rely on investigations into the activities of his opponents.
During the budget briefings I did attempt to get Richard Mdluli to speak, but at that stage he had been shut down by the Acting National Police Commissioner.
In the face of mass reportage by our free media, Richard Mdluli really is the quintessential Teflon man - he has shrugged off murder and fraud charges and, indeed, an entire shopping cart of charges within the service. [Interjections.] The report by Maj-Gen Mark Hankel highlights in excruciating detail that "shopping cart" of alleged actions, any one of which would have had any other SAPS member suspended, pending the outcome of an investigation. [Interjections.] Indeed, the SAPS has the highest total, per month - in terms of salary, that is - of suspended members of any Ministry because they are so serious about rooting out criminality within the service. Yet, somehow, this enthusiasm just does not apply to Richard Mdluli.
Today we were told that he has been moved. We do not know where to - the Minister kept that to himself. We do not know what he is still in charge of, what he controls. Does he in fact have security clearance, I wonder? What with the ever-increasing density of the cloud hanging over his head, I somehow doubt it, yet surely he has been dealing on a daily basis with classified documents. Now, I put through a parliamentary question to that effect, but perhaps the Minister would like to take this opportunity to give us that answer. Perhaps he could also answer how it was that Richard Mdluli was not arrested for defeating the ends of justice when the Hawks reportedly found seven missing police dockets locked in his safe over a year ago. [Interjections.] I would like to know whether the Minister was in any way involved in the decision to terminate the disciplinary proceedings against Richard Mdluli. I would like to know whether the Minister was in any way involved in the reinstatement of Richard Mdluli. I would like to know if he did indeed receive a copy of that letter in which Richard Mdluli made a pledge to the President to support him, as a senior member of a political party?