JOHANNESBURG (AP) — South Africa's top police officer was issued a warrant Wednesday and faces charges a massive corruption scandal In which 12 other senior officials were arrested by anti-corruption investigators.
A warrant was issued ordering National Police Commissioner Fanny Masemola to appear in court next month in connection with an investigation into an alleged corrupt contract to provide health and welfare services to police officers, said police spokesperson Brig. Athlenda Mathe said during the court appearance of other officers.
The high-profile arrests and warrants come as an investigation into alleged high-level corruption in the South African police continues. Parliament also held a special hearing on the allegations.
A huge police corruption scandal
The judge-led investigation was ordered last year by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who had already Police Minister suspended Which is becoming a big scam for Africa's leading economy.
Mathe declined to provide details of the allegations against Masemola, but said that “he has taken note of the allegations made against him, and he has promised to give his full cooperation.” He was ordered to appear in court on April 21, Mathe said.
A spokesman for state prosecutors also declined to say what the charges were against Masemola, but confirmed they were in relation to the contract under which 12 other officers were arrested.
Ramaphosa's office said in a statement that he was aware of the warrant issued against Masemola by prosecutors and that he was committed to ensuring that the police force “remains stable and able to fulfill its policing mandate.”
Ramaphosa deployed army Street demonstrations in some areas of South Africa earlier this month called for help in law enforcement, which was seen as an admission that police have failed to curb the country's high rates of violent crime.
12 senior officials have been accused of corruption
Other senior police officers were reportedly arrested by the National Prosecuting Authority's anti-corruption unit in an operation at the police national headquarters in the capital Pretoria. Prosecutors said he faces charges of corruption and fraud.
The officers, among them a Major-General and several of them brigadiers – some of the highest ranks in the South African Police – were all released on bail.
He is accused of corruption along with a businessman who allegedly has ties to organized crime and whose company was at the center of a multimillion-dollar police contract that was ultimately voided.
Businessman, Vusi “Cat” Matlala, is one of several witnesses who have testified on alleged links between senior police officers and crime bosses. He testified at a parliamentary hearing that he had paid a former police minister about $30,000 for protection.
Matlala was already under arrest and being held in a maximum security prison on attempted murder and other charges in an unrelated case.
South Africa is surrounded by corruption
South Africa has been dogged by corruption scandals for years, often involves large government contracts. Former President Jacob Zuma He resigned in 2018 due to corruption allegations and his tenure was marred by widespread corruption in state-owned companies.
Many of those cases are still under investigation.
Accusations of wrongdoing on the police are also not new. Former police commissioner Jackie Selebi was convicted of corruption in 2010. He died in 2015.
The investigation into police corruption stems from a dramatic press conference last year by a provincial police officer, who accused Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and senior police officers of having ties to organized crime. KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant-General. Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi Claimed criminal syndicate And drug cartels had infiltrated the police at the highest levels.
Mchunu has been accused of illegally ordering the closure of a specialist crime-fighting unit to protect alleged criminals she was investigating.
some shocking revelations
Investigations and parliamentary hearings into alleged police wrongdoing have often been broadcast live on national news stations and have included some shocking revelations, including a senior police officer who was arrested and is facing corruption charges.
Brig. Rachel Matjeng testified to having a romantic relationship with Matlala, who has a long history of having criminal charges dropped against him, but denied that she had taken money and gifts from him for corrupt reasons. She said he gave her money and gifts – including a weight-loss drug – only because they were lovers.
An interim report of the police corruption inquiry, which is due to continue next month, has been handed to Ramaphosa and recommends criminal investigations against several other police officers.
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