The charge sheet in Vusimusi ‘Cat’ Matlala’s case will be amended and the matter will resume on 13 May.
National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola will be appearing alongside Vusimusi ‘Cat’ Matlala and his co-accused in May.
South Africa’s most senior police official made his first appearance in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday following his court summons issued in March.
Masemola is facing four counts of contravening the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) in relation to a R360 million South African Police Service (Saps) health services tender.
The state prosecutor requested that Masemola’s matter be added to the case involving Matlala and the 15 co-accused, saying that only a few financial records still needed to be obtained.
“The investigation against Mr Masemola is at an advanced stage, save for certain aspects of the financial investigation that has to be completed,” Advocate Santhos Manilal told the court.
Calls for swift suspension
The state prosecutor confirmed that the alleged offences did not constitute schedule five charges, acknowledging the ease of securing Masemola’s court appearance.
The charge sheet in Matlala’s matter is to be amended to reflect the addition of Masemola, with the matter to resume on 13 May.
Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Police Ian Cameron said the executive could not wait for the next court date, urging a decisive response in the coming days.
“The Presidency needs to act with urgency to put an experienced career member in place as the acting national commissioner.
“It reflects really badly that we now have a national commissioner that has been charged, while we have an acting police minister because the previous minister is still in limbo.
“It has caused and will continue to cause massive instability in Saps and we need to make sure whoever is appointed as the acting national commissioner is someone that has not in any way been contaminated or involved in the Madlanga Commission or ad hoc committee,” Cameron told The Citizen.
‘I know that I am not guilty’
Speaking to the media at the court, Masemola was confident of his innocence and urged the Saps members not to be distracted.
“The police service must continue doing their work. As I said, it’s the beginning, we have discovered a lot of organised crime in the country.
“They must remain committed and do the work. Yes, I might be being dragged closer to serious criminals – which I don’t know them – but they must stay positive and serve the people pf South Africa.
“I know that I am not guilty, I am not wrong, but of course, the trial must still take its course,” said Masemola.
On the possibility of continuing in his role, Masemola refused to elaborate on what may have been discussed with President Cyril Ramaphosa.
“I don’t want to discuss my discussion with the president in public, so leave it for him and me,” he stated.
‘The courts will make decisions’
National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) spokesperson Kaizer Kganyago said the charges would not have been brought against Masemola unless “we did not believe that we’ve got a water-tight case”.
He dismissed allegations of factional battles within the security cluster or Masemola being targeted for arrest, saying the decision to prosecute Masemola “was based on the law”.
He confirmed that the charges against Masemola related only to the PFMA, and not the same as the corruption and defeating the ends of justice charges facing the others on the Matala case.
“We are not the one’s who are saying someone is guilty or not, we are just presenting the matters to the court, and the courts will make decisions on the basis of the evidence,” said Kganyago told the media outside the court.
The NPA spokesperson did not rule out further arrests and was unable to comment on whether any of the accused had agreed to cooperate in submitting evidence as a state witness.
“If we get information about others, then they will be brought here. We can only bring them here if they have actively been involved,”
“When people are available to be state witnesses, we can’t say no to that, but we can not confirm yet as we have to protect them,” Kganyago concluded.
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