Pretoria - National Police Commissioner General Bheki Cele feels vindicated by some of the findings of the Public Protector's investigation into a R500 million lease agreement for police headquarters in Pretoria.
According to a statement from the South African Police Service (SAPS), Cele welcomed the aspects of the findings that cleared him of "defamatory allegations published in various media" - particularly the claims that he had signed the lease agreement.
SAPS said the findings also vindicated "Cele's widely-disregarded protestations that businessman Roux Shabangu, the owner of Middestad Sanlam Centre, was a stranger to him up until their meeting in June 2010, when Middestad Centre Sanlam had already been selected by the Department of Public Works as the building that the SAPS were going to move into."
"General Cele will now be consulting his lawyers to explore what avenues are available to him as he seeks redress over these allegations that have caused him and his family so much pain and suffering over the past five months or so," SAPS added.
Initially, Cele had been accused of agreeing to a R500 million property lease with the politically connected Shabangu of Roux Property Fund without putting it out to tender.
In her report on Tuesday, Public Protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela rendered the lease invalid, ruling it as "improper and maladministration."
She said the process that led to the conclusion by the Department of Public Works of the lease agreement with Roux Property Fund was flawed in various respects.
These flaws include non-compliance with prescribed procurement procedures, such as ensuring a competitive bidding process.
However, Madonsela said that based on the evidence available, it could not be found that an improper relationship between the preferred bidder Roux Property Fund and the Police motivated deviation from required tendering procedures.
She added that the lease agreement was signed by Roux Property Fund and the Department of Public Works, and not Cele as it was initially alleged.
"Although the SAPS did not sign the lease agreement, its involvement in the procurement process was improper, as it proceeded beyond the demand management phase and it further failed to implement proper controls as required by the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). This failure amounted to improper conduct and maladministration," Madonsela said.
The conduct of the Police accounting officer was in breach of those duties and obligations incumbent upon him in terms of section 38 of the PFMA as well as relevant Treasury Regulations, she added.
SAPS, however, said Cele found it "odd" that the Public Protector found him responsible for failing to ensure that the procurement of the lease did not violate PFMA or the Constitution, given that she acknowledged elsewhere in her report that this was not Cele's responsibility but that of the Department of Public Works.
"Furthermore, the Public Protector's report contains a reference to a memo that General Cele signed on 10 May 2010, specifically recording that the Department of Public Works was going to follow a six-week tender process as part of its search for the space that the SAPS required.
"Exactly how General Cele or the SAPS ends up being found guilty for the Department of Public Works failure to do this is a mystery that will hopefully be cleared over the next few days," SAPS added.
