KZN’s top cop suspended over Panday links
KwaZulu-Natal's top police officer, Lieutenant-General Mmamonnye Ngobeni, hs been suspended over "possibly corrupt" dealings with a Durban businessman.
|||Durban - KwaZulu-Natal’s top police officer, Lieutenant-General Mmamonnye Ngobeni, on Thursday confirmed she had been suspended saying: “Yes, my dear I have been suspended. I have received the notice today”.
The notice said Ngobeni’s suspension was effective from Friday.
In April, acting national police commissioner, Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane, served Ngobeni with a notice of intention to suspend her over “possibly corrupt” dealings with Durban businessman Thoshan Panday.
The Sunday Independent reported in April that Phahlane took the decision after receiving a report from the acting executive director of the Independent Investigative Directorate (Ipid) relating to alleged systematic corruption cases in KZN.
“The Provincial Commissioner, KwaZulu-Natal as well as other officers are implicated in the said corruption,” said part of the letter, that the newspaper claimed to have seen.
Ngobeni’s suspension is a result of an independent forensic audit which apparently showed a “possibly corrupt relationship” between her and Panday.
Asked if she had made representations following the issuing of the notice of intention to suspend last month, Ngobeni said on Thursday: “I did make representations.”
However, she refused to discuss her representations or the allegations she faces.
“I want to reserve my rights. This is an internal matter and I think you must speak to my employer,” she said.
National police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said he could not speak on the suspension.
“This is policy that we can’t speak on issues that are internal. I know that she has been quoted, but I still have to follow policy,” he said.
Johan Boysen, the suspended head of the Directorate for Priority Investigation (commonly known as the Hawks), has claimed in court papers submitted in his fight against racketeering charges that have been levelled against him, that Ngobeni told him to stop investigating Panday.
Panday was alleged to have inflated invoices related to police accommodation during the 2010 Soccer World Cup and then he was alleged to have attempted to bribe Booysen with R2 million.
Booysen claims it is this investigation that has led to him facing what he says are unfounded racketeering charges in connection with a series of killings by the now disbanded Cato Manor Serious and Violent Crimes Unit.
Panday allegedly threw a lavish birthday party for Ngobeni’s husband, but Ngobeni has denied that allegation saying she the businessman for the function.
Mulaudzi would not be drawn into revealing who had been appointed to fill Ngobeni’s post while she is suspended. “It’s too early to say, but for the sake of stability it has to be done as soon as possible,” he said.
African News Agency