The SAPS is confronting a brewing leadership crisis as several top-ranking police generals face criminal charges and internal disciplinary hearings.
Police counter- and security intelligence boss Maj-Gen Feroz Khan and Gauteng Hawks head Ebrahim Kadwa are the latest generals to be criminally charged in a wide-ranging probe implicating the upper echelons of the police service.
The duo appeared in the Kempton Park magistrate’s court on Monday on a charge of breaching the law in relation to unwrought precious metals. They were each released on R20,000 bail.
Their court appearance came as national commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola faces a criminal case of contravention of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). He has been placed on special leave.
His second-in-command, deputy national commissioner Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya, is on suspension after being among the implicated cops bankrolled by attempted murder accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
The head of police crime intelligence, Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo, as well as Maj-Gen Nosipho Madondo, head of intelligence analysis and co-ordination, and Maj-Gen Josias Lekalaka, Gauteng crime intelligence head, face fraud and corruption charges linked to a senior appointment.
In December a Pretoria high court order set aside a bail condition prohibiting Khumalo, Madondo and Lekalaka from being on the premises of crime intelligence, clearing the way for their return to work despite a pending criminal case.
Organised crime head Lt-Gen Richard Shibiri faces internal police disciplinary proceedings after being linked to Matlala and exchanging money with the accused.
About 10 officers in the procurement department have been charged with corruption after being linked to a R360m police tender fraudulently awarded to Matlala’s company, Medicare24.
“I have lost count; there are more than a dozen generals on suspension and facing criminal charges. It is shocking, but in a way, it is also a positive thing that clearly there is a clean-up process that is taking place,” said policing expert Johan Burger.
The arrests of police officers are a sign that the Madlanga commission of inquiry into allegations of criminal infiltration in law enforcement is delivering results.
“What we are seeing is action, and hopefully once all of this is done and dusted, we will have a new process of rebuilding not just the police service but the criminal justice system.”
A survey by the Human Sciences Research Council found that in 2024/25 public confidence in the police was at a low of 22%.
Burger said the continued arrests of police officers could further undermine public trust, but the investigations were essential for reforming the police service.
“Not everyone in the police is corrupt; there are still some police officers who are true to their commitment as police officers, but after all of this, there will have to be a complete remake of the SAPS and its systems,” he said.
Independent crime analyst Chris de Kock said, “The number of people we are seeing implicated is becoming hair-raising, and I just hope the people acting in the roles will be knowledgeable about their jobs.”
While Lt-Gen Puleng Dimpane, who is taking over from Masemola, might bring key expertise in finance to her leadership of the police service, he was concerned that she was not a “career cop”.
“I don’t think she has enough knowledge of the whole of the SAPS.
“If she can draw the leaders and the people who know of other components, keep them close around her and not alienate them, then she can make a success. Riah Phiyega failed because she alienated most people who knew how to run the police.”
Instability in police leadership usually results in an increase in crime statistics, he said.
“These [arrests] will have a very negative effect on the SAPS, but what else can you do? If there is enough evidence that these people in very high places in the police service are part of organised crime, then you have to suspend them and investigate them.
“The disciplinary process within the police must also continue,” he said.
The criminal cases against the cops might take years to conclude, he added, but those acting in the positions would have to take “brave decisions” to ensure stability in the police service.
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