Crime intelligence — a vital tool in the policing arsenal when it comes to cracking down on extortion gangs — is dysfunctional and divided, insiders say.
Experts and police top brass who spoke to the Sunday Times said it was concerning that despite a multi-billion budget, the Crime Intelligence Unit had been unable to stem the alarming increase in these gangs over the past five years.
Insiders at the unit claim there are divisions and criminal elements within the unit, and that last year’s decision by Crime Intelligence head Maj-Gen Dumisani Khumalo to put a R3,000 cap on payment for informants had discouraged many of them from assisting police as they were not willing to risk their lives for few thousand rand.
The insiders also say there is unhappiness with the leadership of Khumalo, whose security clearance was allegedly fast tracked within five days and who is still to account after an investigation by the office of the Inspector-General of Intelligence (IGI) Imtiaz Fazel.
On Friday, police minister Senzo Mchunu announced quarterly crime statistics which he said told the “sobering story” that South Africa was faced with a crisis that undermined the country’s stability.
“We have been reading about kidnappings and extortion cases in the media; 135 cases of kidnapping for ransom were recorded in the first quarter, with Gauteng and KZN accounting for 81 and 15 cases respectively...
“We are confronted with a crisis that threatens the safety of our communities and undermines the stability of our nation,” said Mchunu.
He said they were looking at strengthening crime intelligence and the detective division. He said specialised units had been deployed to Mthatha and Gqeberha where businesses and communities had seen an unprecedented amount of violence by criminals demanding protection fees.
“Our crime intelligence capabilities are being strengthened to provide better insights and strategic advantages in the fight against criminal networks. Enhanced intelligence is key to anticipating and countering criminal activities before they escalate,” said Mchunu.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE HI-RES VERSION OF THIS GRAPHIC
St Crime Intelligence Problems Online by TimesLIVE on Scribd
Last week the Sunday Times published a series of articles from businesses and communities across the country, revealing the rise in extortion and protection fee criminal activities.
A top official in the security cluster, who asked to remain anonymous because they are not allowed to speak to the media, said the increase in organised crime — be it kidnapping, extortion or cyber crime — was an indication that crime intelligence was weak and not leading police investigations.
The official, who has intimate knowledge of crime intelligence, said several experienced crime intelligence heads from various provinces had been removed since last year and that had an affect on combating crime.
The crime intelligence division in the Eastern Cape was without a head for over a year until recently when an acting appointment was made. The Western Cape, North West and Mpumalanga heads were also removed and acting appointments made.
The official said the decision to have a R3,000 cap for paying informants was hampering their ability to infiltrate criminal syndicates.
“It is not difficult to track and infiltrate the people who demand extortion if you have a functioning crime intelligence, but if informants don’t want to work with us, it is just not worth it.
“Informants must fit into these syndicates and their lifestyle, and they can’t do that with R3,000,” said the official.
Former head Richard Mdluli allegedly abused the secret account to buy cars for relatives and girlfriends, as well as going on overseas trips.
Khumalo introduced the cap as part of the police’s drive to limit the abuse of secret funds. If intelligence operatives want more money to pay informants, they have to motivate for approval.
The move has caused an uproar within crime intelligence, which has in the past few years been mired in scandals involving senior officials and operatives abusing the secret service account for their own enrichment.
“While no complaint has been received in this regard, information pertaining to informants has been brought to my attention,” Fazel said.
“The said information forms part of my oversight functions of monitoring and review...Furthermore, we confirm that the complaint regarding the security clearance of Maj-Gen Khumalo was investigated by this Office.
“A report containing findings and recommendations was submitted to the former minister of police ... on 30 October 2023. In this regard, this office is monitoring the implementation of the recommendations contained in the report.”
Criminal expert Gareth Newham said that though there were good women and men at crime intelligence, the unit had been unstable for many years. It had been expected that after the 2021 riots there would be a major overhaul.
“It is worrying that every year we keep seeing these allegations coming out. We see this huge growth of organised crime, we see some movement but given the vast resources going to crime intelligence, we should be getting much better results — and that will only happen if the current minister makes sure there is a thorough review of every person in that unit, exactly what they are doing, and their skills capacity,” said Newham.
He said insiders at the unit believe it was “highly dysfunctional and highly fragmented”.
“If you consider the amount of money that is spent on crime intelligence — it's billions of rand, a budget bigger than that of the National Prosecuting Authority — we should not be seeing the kind of growth in organised crime we have over the last five years.
“This huge spread of extortion we are seeing now, this is a consequence of really weak crime intelligence,” said Newham.
The organisation has been dysfunctional since 2009, with its former head Richard Mdluli facing fraud and corruption charges for allegedly abusing the secret account to buy cars for relatives and girlfriends, as well as going on overseas trips.
Members of the intelligence division have also been implicated in the murder of Western Cape anti-gang unit detective Lt-Col Charl Kinnear in 2020. They are alleged to have passed on sensitive information to gangsters.
Crime intelligence came under scrutiny after riots in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng, with an expert panel finding serious intelligence shortcomings had led to the failure to anticipate or prevent the rampage.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.