MEDIA RELEASE
2025-04-24

SUMMARY: The Labour Party of South Africa (Labour Party) condemns the collapse of leadership within the South African Police Service (SAPS) following the suspension of a second senior police official. The Labour Party holds President Cyril Ramaphosa directly responsible for this failure, warning that his indecision, weak leadership and reliance on acting appointments, including the elevation of individuals without proven operational policing experience to senior ranks, reflect an inability to take decisive action while communities remain exposed to violent crime and institutional collapse.

Yesterday (23 April 2026) saw the suspension of a second senior police official, with the National Commissioner of Police, General Fannie Masemola, placed on precautionary suspension and Lieutenant General Puleng Dimpane appointed as acting National Commissioner of the South African Police Service by the President of the Republic of South Africa, Mr Cyril Ramaphosa. This development follows the earlier suspension of Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya, Deputy National Commissioner responsible for Crime Detection, as well as the continued placement of the Minister of Police, Mr Senzo Mchunu, on special leave. 

This sequence of events underscores the depth of instability within SAPS leadership. The removal from active duty of both the Deputy National Commissioner responsible for Crime Detection and the National Commissioner of Police, together with the absence of the Minister from active duty, has left the country’s policing architecture without stable and permanent leadership at its most critical levels.  

“This government is not taking South Africans seriously. We now have both the Minister of Police and the National Commissioner effectively removed from their roles, yet the country is expected to accept a revolving door of acting appointments. This is patronage, and it is condescending to the people of this country”, said Joseph Mathunjwa, interim President of the Labour Party. 

The precautionary suspension of the National Commissioner follows his implication in the R360 million tender scandal, which has already drawn multiple senior SAPS officials into criminal proceedings. The continued placement of the Minister on special leave, rather than decisive removal, together with the appointment of an acting National Commissioner, reflects a pattern of hesitation and political management at the highest level of government. 

The appointment of an acting National Commissioner from a financial oversight background also raises legitimate questions about whether President Cyril Ramaphosa fully appreciates the nature of the policing crisis confronting the country. While financial management is an important function within SAPS, South Africa’s immediate challenge is not merely one of compliance or accounting, but of organised crime, corruption networks and operational policing failures. 

“We must ask serious questions about accountability. If the acting National Commissioner presided over financial systems during a period now associated with serious and wide-ranging corruption allegations, why was she not called before the Madlanga Commission? South Africans deserve answers on this”, Mathunjwa said. 

“Finance is important, but finance does not drive corruption. Crime drives corruption. The core business of the South African Police Service is not accounting, it is enforcing the law and combating organised crime”, he said. 

“A rank such as General must be earned through years of service and experience. Those who wear that rank must have come through the system, understood policing at ground level and proven themselves in the field”, he said. 

“This is an insult to the men and women in uniform who have worked their way through the ranks, who have put their lives on the line, and who have earned their positions through experience and sacrifice”, he said. 

“Instead of appointing individuals without clear operational policing credentials, the President should be appointing proven leaders. South Africa has capable officers such as Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi who have demonstrated real leadership in the fight against crime”, he said. 

“What this shows is that the President does not have a clear system or a credible pool of competent individuals to appoint into these positions. South Africa has experienced and capable men and women who could be called upon, yet they are overlooked”, he said. 

“This is the result of a political system driven by party interests and patronage. Party comes before country, and when that happens, institutions begin to collapse. South Africa needs a statesman, not a hesitant administrator. What we are seeing is a President who is unable to take firm and final decisions in the face of crisis”, Mathunjwa said. 

The continued reliance on acting appointments at the highest levels of the security cluster reflects a failure to provide stable, accountable leadership at a time when South Africans are facing persistent and escalating violent crime. 

“Why are critical positions in the security cluster being filled on an acting basis while crime continues to devastate our communities? South Africans deserve leadership that is permanent, accountable and decisive. We don’t need more temporary caretakers”, Mathunjwa stated. 

The continued placement of the Minister of Police on special leave, rather than decisive removal or accountability measures, further illustrates a pattern of delay and avoidance at the highest level of executive authority. 

“Why has the Minister not been decisively removed? Placing him on so-called ‘special leave’ shows that the President is buying time instead of acting. South Africans need leadership that confronts problems, not leadership that postpones them”, Mathunjwa said. 

These developments are not isolated incidents but reflect a broader failure of leadership at the level of the Presidency, where critical decisions are delayed, responsibility is avoided, and institutions are left to drift in a state of uncertainty. 

“When the President fails to act, the entire system begins to collapse. What we are witnessing in SAPS today is not just a policing crisis … it is a leadership crisis at the highest level of the state”, Mathunjwa said. 

The instability at leadership level has direct implications for operational effectiveness, investigative capacity and the ability of SAPS to fulfil its constitutional mandate to protect citizens and uphold the rule of law. Working-class communities remain disproportionately affected by violent crime and inadequate policing responses. 

“The ANC has had decades to protect the people of this country, yet South Africa has turned out to be worse off than a war-torn zone, where 69 people are killed daily due to violent crime. If it was anywhere else, it would be seen as a war or a disaster. This shows that South Africa is a failed state. The only interest of this government is to secure business for foreign interests, instead of focusing on the problems here at home. This political system must change if we are to restore safety, dignity and justice for the nation”, Mathunjwa concluded. 

++++ENDS++++

998 words (excluding heading, summary and end matter)

For more information or to arrange interviews, please send a request to media@labourparty.org.za.

The Labour Party is a non-racial home for all progressive and likeminded organisations, including trade unions and civil society organisations that share our values and ethos.