The SAPS Crime Intelligence division is setting up a covert unit to spy on social media users in a valiant effort to unmask the criminal masterminds hiding behind online profiles.
National police commissioner General Fannie Masemola has allegedly handpicked the political staff of ex-police minister Bheki Cele as ideal candidates for these highly coveted crime intelligence posts that require technologically skilled and experienced investigators.
Police insiders said the posts were due to be advertised in the media by next Sunday, which is more than a month since Masemola has been pushing to get the vacancies filled but getting resistance from senior cops who are worried that it would be a mockery of intelligence practices to have Cele’s minions trade in their tailored suits for trench coats.
A former senior cop opposed to Masemola’s plans said: “Surveilling social media is a profession. You must have the skills and qualifications for the role. Also, the decision goes against the directive of the DPSA (department of public service and administration) that all ministry staff must vacate their posts at the end of the office term.”
The recommendation for the SAPS to establish a specialised unit to watch potential criminal activities on interactive platforms such as WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube on the back of investigations into the July 2021 unrest in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal, during which about 350 people lost their lives.
According to the South African Human Rights Commission, online communication and coordination played a role in fuelling the violence.
A mole within the crime intelligence setup said: “There is already a section within crime intelligence that deals with social media monitoring, specifically under the intelligence collection in commercial crimes division, as well as in the analysis and coordination divisions.
“Cele just wants employment for his people.”
A senior police brigadier, who asked not to be named, also said it looks like the unit was created to accommodate Cele’s former staff members who were supposed to vacate the SAPS when he exited as the minister after the May 29 election.
“Cele wants to rule the SAPS from the comfort of his home. He has engineered the employment of his lieutenants in strategic positions within the police.
“We have two units already doing this kind of work. We have a section called Commercial, Financial and Cyber Unit – under this section, there’s a cyber crime subsection.
“We also have the intelligence analysis and coordination unit, which monitors social media as part of its daily duties.
“Parliament has not approved this new unit, nor is it part of the SAPS structures. It is just a job-creating scheme for some people,” he said.
Insiders said Masemola’s manoeuvre was part of a grand plan to seamlessly weave Cele’s political entourage into the fabric of SAPS, just as their political contracts in the ministry expired. This suggests Cele might still have a sneaky grip on the SAPS.
About a month ago, Masemola allegedly informed senior cops that he wanted Cele’s allies absorbed into the service. The plan included changing the structure of the communications unit, which saw Cele’s former chief of staff, Nonkululeko Phokane, appointed on July 4 as the head of communication and liaison services at the level of major general.
Sunday World understands the post had been vacant, but no advertisement was issued prior to Phokane’s appointment.
Phokane and Cele come a long way, she used to be his spokesperson when he was safely and security MEC in KwaZulu-Natal. When Cele was appointed national police commissioner in 2010, he roped her in to be his spokesperson.
Police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe said the guide on members of the executive of November 2022 no longer provided for the appointment of employees in the private offices of ministers in a permanent capacity. With the end of Cele’s term of office, Phokane was laterally transferred.
“There are indeed other employees who were appointed in the office of the previous minister of police in a permanent capacity, and the lateral re-deployment of such employees within the public service is under consideration,” Mathe said.
One of those appointments that gives credence to claims that Cele wants to remote control the SAPS is that of Major General Phalani Lushaba, who heads the secret service account.
Lushaba and Cele hail from the same area in KwaZulu-Natal, and it is believed that he was appointed to the position even though he didn’t qualify for it.
Lushaba allegedly brought a sex worker to his home shortly after his appointment, where she stole his laptop containing classified information and a service pistol.
“Lushaba was never charged for this, and his laptop and gun were later recovered from the prostitute, who was also never charged but was allegedly paid for her silence,” one SAPS general said yesterday.
Pope Maluleke, the police officer who investigated Lushaba’s case and found that it was a robbery rather than a housebreaking, as Lushaba had initially claimed, was fired from SAPS.
