22 Nov 2006: ISS Today: Selebi Must Choose His Friends Carefully and Keep Crime at a Safe Distance

22 November 2006: Selebi Must Choose His Friends Carefully and Keep Crime at a Safe Distance
The Sunday Independent, 19 November 2006

For weeks now the South African media has been debating the position of Jackie Selebi, the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service. The public discussion stems from press stories linking the Commissioner to organised crime, and has drawn complete denials by him of any wrongdoing. Media reports, apparently based largely on a ‘dossier’ compiled by a former Airports Company of South Africa security chief, Paul O’Sullivan, have made serious allegations against the Commissioner. Opposition political parties are among those who have called for a commission of inquiry to investigate these allegations. The Independent Complaints Directorate apparently has also investigated some of the allegations against the National Commissioner, but could find no substance in these. Cabinet subsequently expressed its full confidence in the Commissioner. The arrest last week, of Glen Agliotti, a person who Selebi claims as a friend, for the murder of controversial businessman Brett Kebble, gave unexpected support for those calling for a commission of inquiry or for the resignation of the National Commissioner. What is to happen next?

Any one of a number of newspaper headings could have been used for this piece, but the title deliberately was chosen to highlight the current position of the National Commissioner. The difficulty faced by Jackie Selebi is that a distinction is being made between what is acceptable in the life of a private person but questionable in that of a public official such as the National Commissioner of Police and Head of Interpol. Thus, while any private person may safely claim the friendship of someone against whom there are, as yet unproven, suspicions of involvement in serious criminal activity, the public regards it as an entirely different matter for the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service to do so.

It should be borne in mind that allegations of criminal activity on the part of Glen Agliotti are as yet untested in a court of law, and certainly there is no evidence that anybody has launched a criminal investigation into the behaviour of the National Commissioner himself. Certain allegations that Selebi may have interfered in the Kebble murder case may surface at Agliotti’s trial; this remains to be seen. There are also serious concerns that Agliotti was arrested by the Directorate of Special Operations (the ‘Scorpions’) rather than the South African Police Service, which had been conducting the murder investigation. This again has led to speculation that the Scorpions do not sufficiently trust the police with the investigation, in spite of public statements about good cooperation between the two law enforcement agencies.

Commissioner Selebi’s claims that he knew nothing of the suspicions against his friend lead to uncomfortable questions about the protection his official advisers should have given him, given the potentially embarrassing circumstances that have now arisen.

Whatever the facts of the matter, the reality remains that, judging from media reports, letters to the press, radio talk shows and general discussions, the broad public is increasingly uneasy about the integrity of our National Commissioner. He may be innocent as far as allegations of criminal behaviour are concerned, but the suspicions linger. His apparent refusal to understand the sentiments on the part of the public give rise to other concerns. It should be clear that the police and its leadership must be beyond reproach, and the public has every right to expect them to lead by example in the fight against crime. Coming in the wake of widespread public concern about a new ‘crime wave’ in the country, which disturbingly is dominated by organised crimes such as cash-in-transit heists, car hijacking and armed robberies, public confidence in the police is undoubtedly now at an all time low.

There would seem to be a few options:

• To await the murder trial and see whether the National Commissioner is implicated in any crimes of commission or omission;
• To hold a judicial Board of Inquiry in terms of section 8 of the South African Police Service Act (No 68 of 1995) to independently determine to what extent (if any) Selebi’s relationship with Agliotti may have compromised his performance as head of the police;
• Commissioner Selebi himself could, in the public interest and also to restore trust in the police, request the President to allow him temporary leave until all suspicion against him is removed;
• Apart from the other options, the National Commissioner unequivocally should denounce crime in all its forms and distance himself from those who are involved in it.

Dr Johan Burger, Crime and Justice Programme, ISS Tshwane (Pretoria)