Public Protector’s Interim Report on Police Leases
Friday, 12 November 2010
The Public Protector is saddened by inaccurate
media reports regarding the preliminary report
relating to the investigation into complaints
and allegations of maladministration, improper
and unlawful conduct by the Department of Public
Works and the South African Police Service (SAPS),
involving two building leases for police accommodation.
According to news articles in the Cape Argus and
Daily News, which were published on Tuesday, 9
November 2010 and another news story published in
the Pretoria News on Thursday, 11 November 2010,
the Public Protector is “refusing” to publicise
“findings” in this matter and the contents of the
preliminary report. The article in the Pretoria News
further creates an impression that there are two separate
investigations into the matter, one conducted by the Public
Protector and the other handled by the Special Investigations
Unit (SIU).
The Public Protector would like to put it on record that
the investigation is a joint effort between her office and
the SIU and is still underway. As such, there are no “findings”
yet as more evidence is still being collected by way of interviews
with various people and scrutiny of relevant documents.
With regard to the preliminary report, the Public Protector
would like to confirm that it has indeed been finalised and
was sent to National Police Commissioner of Police, General
Bheki Cele, on Monday, 25 October. This was in response to a
request for progress on this important investigations involving
contract with enormous financial implications. However, the
report cannot be made public due to the fact that its contents
include observations on the merits of the case. A release of the
report to the public would accordingly jeopardize the investigation.
While it is true that the Public Protector promised a preliminary
report, upon finalizing the preliminary report, a decision was made
that the details should remain confidential to allow the investigation
to run smoothly.
At this stage, the only information that can be made public regarding
the investigation is a process report, which does not contain information
that may preempt the investigation or prejudice parties to this matter.
In terms of progress made, the Public Protector has interviewed a number
of people, who cannot be identified for obvious reasons. The investigation
primarily involves the scrutiny of documents mainly from the police and
public works and interviewing people. If deemed necessary, a forensic
element could be added.
Initially, the investigation was scheduled to be completed by September
2010. Subsequent to the announcement of these timelines, the Public
Protector met with the Head of the SIU and the two decided on a joint
investigation. In pursuit of the agreement, a joint team comprising
members of the Public Protector South Africa and SIU was established.
A single case plan was developed and the idea was to complete the
investigation by November 2010, at the latest.
However, due to the need to reconcile approaches between the two
institutions and the complexity of the investigation, it has not been
possible to meet project plan time frames. The full report on the
investigation will be released by the Public Protector and the Head
of SIU as soon as possible and after affected parties involved have
been informed of the findings.
In the meantime the police and the Department of Public Works have
been kept abreast of developments in the investigation. They have been
advised and agreed not to incur any further commitments on the two contested
transactions.
Issued by:
Oupa Segalwe
Manager: Outreach, Education and Communication
Public Protector South Africa
(012) 366 7035
072 264 3273
oupas@pprotect.org
www.publicprotector.org
|
