The extent to which the SAPS is being mismanaged, which is a product of the state capture years, is much worse than is generally realized. Have the events of July 2021 not made it obvious that the state of policing poses a serious threat to our country’s stability? Government commissioned reports have, for three years, made clear the urgency of police and intelligence agency restructuring, but their recommendations have fallen on deaf ears. There seems to be no political will to change policing from what has become an apartheid-type institution flouting the law with impunity to a constitutionally-compliant service. The many competent members who take their oath of office seriously are cowed into ignoring the rampant corruption which places their own lives at risk. Actively opposing corruption leads to job loss, and may also be life-threatening, as in the current plight of whistle-blower and police rights defender Patricia Mashale. The danger she is in has been drawn to the attention of the President and Parliament for the past nine months but, while mouthing platitudes about the importance of whistleblowers, no effort whatsoever has been made to stop the persecution of Mashale by her own erstwhile colleagues, and to provide her with protection to carry on her crucial, corruption-fighting work. It is the President and his Executive who know of her plight, and have failed to act, who will bear responsibility should any harm befall Patricia Mashale and her family.
Bloemfontein-based Patricia Mashale and her husband George, formerly an SAPS operational member, have been exposing corruption in the SAPS for the past thirteen years, and paying the price of malicious arrests and disciplinary actions against them. The chain of events which led to her going into hiding six months ago started when she wrote to then National Commissioner Sitole in January 2021, sending him – at his request – details of abuse of power and the selective use of disciplinary procedures implicating Free State SAPS management, supporting the allegations with detailed documentation, including affidavits from affected members. She says that the National Commissioner found that her complaints were valid and summoned Free State management to head office.
It was thereafter that a departmental action was instituted against her, followed by Deputy Free State Commissioner Major-General Lesia obtaining a harassment order against her in the Bloemfontein Family court in August 2021. That departmental action, which dragged on until early 2022, was not pursued because of the intervention of the South African Human Rights Commission, which afforded her Whistleblower status confirming that she had complied with the provisions of the Protected Disclosure Act. (the contract of the CEO who assisted her was not renewed). However, by then months of harassment had followed, including the illegal seizure of her personal telephone and surveillance of her family. Attempting to protect herself at work, she secured an interim protection order against Lesia, but did not pursue it after she was, illegally, dismissed seven months ago. After the Harassment order had been finalised in August 2021 Mashale had lodged a recission application. That matter was to drag on for months, until August 2022, with postponements and, apparently, some bewilderment about why the matter was in the Family Court. During all these court hearings Lesia, opposing the recission application, was in court with a large contingent of Operational Response Team members for what was, essentially, a private civil matter. In this action he has claimed reputational damage because he discovered that Mashale was among those forwarding Whats App messages circulating among colleagues about him (which had been sent by a lawyer, including to the National Commissioner). Of all those who received these messages, she and George were the only ones singled out for Lesia’s claim of reputational damage.
When the recission application matter came before court for finalization in May 2022, the presiding magistrate, referring to the members in eleven police vehicles Lesia had brought with him, said she felt intimidated. She also spoke of having to keep the file in her possession to ensure its safety, while worrying about her own. Noting that it was not a Family Court matter, she referred it to the Regional Court. In delivering Judgment on 1 September, a regional court magistrate turned down the recission application on various grounds, all of which could have been challenged had any evidence from Mashale been heard (which had not happened). Ironically, he had not even touched on the merits of the rescission application, which were given in detail by Mashale citing the fact that Lesia was her line manager and that he had already followed internal disciplinary procedures by charging Mashale departmentally (which was the action which eventually fell away following the SAHRC intervention).
The magistrate simply ignored the fact that this had been an internal labour-related matter and that interference from the court might have devastating implications for junior employees attempting to report their superiors. By this time, Mashale had acquired legal representation, and her lawyer had apparently not even been able to access the docket, raising questions about whether it was still complete. An Appeal against the judgment is planned.
The Whats Apps referred to were circulating among police members but, by bringing this action, Lesia has placed it, and allegations about his own conduct, in the public domain. According to the court order, the Respondents may not damage the Applicant’s reputation by spreading false allegations against him – which begs the obvious question about how the public knows whether allegations (by their very nature unproven) are false or not, since there has been no canvassing of the veracity of the allegations in open court proceedings, as would have happened had he lodged a civil action against Mashale.
The day after the Judgment was handed down, Lesia reportedly contacted the SABC and told them to stop the broadcast of a second episode on gross corruption in SAPS in the Free State, in which Mr and Mrs Mashale had been among those interviewed. This two-part series had been filmed in May 2022 and the first episode was broadcast in Special Assignment on 26 July, titled ‘We won’t be silenced’. That programme showed shocking footage of the serious, unwarranted, victimization of police members by a senior manager (not Lesia), which had led to severe physical illness requiring their medical boarding. After the first episode was broadcast the Free State SAPS Legal Head complained that it had shown the police in a bad light – which it did, justifiably – and exerted pressure on the SABC to stop the second episode from being broadcast on 2 August. The broadcast was deferred while legalities were sorted out, and the programme was scheduled for broadcast on 2 September 2022. It was on that day, immediately after Mashale’s recission application had been turned down, that Lesia is alleged to have called the broadcaster, instructing them to halt the second instalment. They refused, and a follow up with the producer confirmed that it was too late to do so. This episode features interviews with Patricia and George Mashale, and with a former colleague, Col C, a middle-aged social worker in the Family Violence Unit, who had been illegally dismissed and then maliciously charged by a less experienced colleague with crimen injura. When she reported to the senior prosecutor at Bloemfontein Court she was sent to the cells, and leg irons were placed on her for the day. She appeared in leg irons before the magistrate, who took no action. Even those accused of serious crimes such as murder, or even treason, are not treated in this way in South African courts (but she and Mashale are not the only credible female police members treated in such an appalling manner, including by their incompetent but well- connected female colleagues).
On Friday 16 September a large contingent of armed Operational Response police arrived at the family home to arrest George Mashale, who was away (Patricia remains in hiding away from her family). The intention had obviously been to arrest him and keep him in prison for the weekend, with no guarantee for his safety, until the law required that he appear in court on Monday 19th. Many years of monitoring SAPS conduct shows that they frequently make malicious arrests on a Friday, and sometimes those arrested are abused in custody. Their youngest child, eleven years old, who was at home with Patricia’s brother, shot a video through the window, exposing the huge armed police presence. His older sisters arrived and demanded to see a warrant of arrest for their father, which the police could not produce. Among the police present was the station commissioner from another station not having jurisdiction over the Mashale home area. No response was received to inquiries to the local station commissioner about whether this armed contingent had reported to that station as is required by Regulations. On the following day, Saturday, social worker John Clarke, who runs a whistle-blower support group, called an urgent press conference to highlight the danger to the Mashale family and the harm caused to their young child. It was subsequently discovered that, uninvited, the Acting National head of Crime Intelligence, who is known to have no competence or experience as an intelligence officer, but who is related to a former Free State management member was present, without having been invited, spying on what was being discussed.
Mr and Mrs Mashale were ordered to appear in the Bloemfontein regional court on 20 September, where they were informed that they were formally charged for breaking the Harassment Order – despite their having had no control over the SABC footage which had been filmed in May being broadcast. On 21 September when they appeared in court for a bail application, their offence was treated as a Schedule 5 crime because the magistrate considered that it should fall within amendments made to the Domestic Act. Mashale was therefore arrested by the magistrate again and had to apply for bail, although she was already charged and released on a warning by the investigating officer on 20 September. She was then released on a warning again. This bizarre act of the magistrate is implying double jeopardy, where a suspect is being charged for the same offence twice. The case has been postponed and transferred to the Regional court on 16 November 2022. The charges are spreading false allegations and harming the reputation of Thabang Solomon Lesia, who is the Deputy Provincial Commissioner of Policing in Free State.
Because the Mashale couple had muddled the August 2021 Family Court dates, and arrived at court a day later -which confusion is explained in the recission affidavit of Ms Mashale as being purely accidental -and because they had no legal representation, Lesia obtained an Order based on a forwarded message, and screenshots of another, that the Mashales had forwarded to SAPS colleagues who would, presumably have been in a position to make their own informed opinion about the veracity or otherwise of the message content (and from the content of those messages, his claim of reputational damage appears exaggerated). No evidence whatsoever was led before this Order was granted and, despite the timeous application for a recission order it was not granted. There had been no direct harassment, even electronic, let alone any threats, between the Mashales and Lesia, yet now they are treated, for bail purposes, as are those accused of attempted murder, rape, and drug dealing. Where is the justice?
What is particularly relevant is that criminal cases have been opened against Lesia by, among others, Patricia Mashale, including the illegal seizure of her personal cellphone in 2021. Because of the serious problems with IPID, referred to below, those cases are now part of an investigation by the Public Protector into the threats and ill treatment of Ms Mashale. The other pertinent question is why the DPP has not made any determination on any of the serious charges that Mashale pressed against Lesia, but is immediately pursuing an insignificant charge of spreading false allegations?
The context in which police members can deploy scarce resources to settle their own personal scores, which Lesia has done, is one in which the whole state, including the SAPS, was criminalized during the state capture years, with departments turned into private fiefdoms for politicians to usurp the role of departmental heads. Like other SAPS management structures, that in the Free State is a product of grossly irregular appointments and promotions which are a product of the ‘Gangster State’ tenure of Free State Premier Ace Magashula and his Jacob ally. The current Free State Provincial Commissioner was Second Respondent in an Interdict Application brought by then IPID head McBride in 2017 to stop police under her command from obstructing IPID investigations into then the Acting National Commissioner Phahlane (it was never finalised).
Free State and National SAPS management is also a product of what had become a norm during the Zuma years – ministers and provincial MECs involving themselves, and often directing, departmental operations. This unconstitutional ministerial involvement continues under the Ramaphosa presidency. Recently suspended Deputy National Commissioner Vuma (not from the Free State), in her July 2022 Protected Disclosure statement sent to the President and other high ranking officials in the criminal justice system, details the ways in which procurement abuses have continued, together with ministerial micro-managing. She claims that Police Minister Cele berated her for the awarding of a cellphone tender, and refers to the procurement of an interception device (grabber) by the minister and an intelligence operative – raising questions about the legality of all this interception. She states that the national commissioner received political instructions to suspend her because she refused to sign for an irregular procurement another deputy commissioner was pressing for. Vuma has been suspended and that same deputy commissioner, also from the Free State, is acting in her position. Vuma claims she has been threatened, and fears for her life. Referring to her letter to the President, police union SAPU issued a statement reinforcing their previous call to him to institute a Board of Inquiry into the collapse of policing. That, it seems, is wishful thinking.
That neither Parliament, nor the Minister, take their oaths to the Constitutional seriously, is shown by their non-compliance with a 2016 Order by the Constitutional court, drawing attention to the unconstitutionality of IPID (the body which is supposed to provide oversight of the police) which lacks independence from the Police Ministry. Six years later, the required legislation is still outstanding. There is no independent oversight of the police because the Minister, engaging in irregular operational matters himself, runs IPID and the Civilian Secretariat and, it seems, the parliamentary committee on police as well which has failed completely in its oversight function. The current minister has also ignored the important recommendations of the May 2018 report of the Panel of Policing Experts appointed after the Marikana massacre. As Minister he bears responsibility for the July 2021 anarchy by failing to request the deployment of the SANDF to keep national highways clear and run roadblocks timeously, and should have resigned or been dismissed then.
While the Minister bears constitutional responsibility for preventing and combating crime, that responsibility is also shared with the Executive, including the President. The President and Parliament are well aware of the threats to the lives of Patricia Mashale and her family but they are, willfully, allowing the persecution of good police members, and the collapse of policing, to continue. Justice for victims is becoming increasingly elusive. The treatment of Mashale and other whistle-blowers like Thabiso Zulu shows just how far we are travelling down the police state road as executive members of government ignore the Constitution with impunity. How many more times must the public be reminded of the immortal words of Pastor Niemoller, while the freedoms and the rule of law for which countless thousands gave their lives are being jeopardized by an increasingly authoritarian, secretive, unaccountable government?
The Violence Monitor 