Former deputy national police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya is no longer a member of the South African Police Service (SAPS), with his departure classified as a dishonourable discharge while he faced disciplinary proceedings over allegations of corruption, abuse of power and links to the criminal underworld.
Former police Major-General Jeremy Vearey said the circumstances raise questions about accountability within the police service and whether meaningful action is being taken to address longstanding institutional problems.
Vearey questioned why it took the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry to prompt the police service to respond to allegations and consider corrective measures.
“The first question we must ask is: why did it take a Madlanga Commission to get SAPS almost to react to what comes out of a commission?” he said.
He argued that the organisation should have addressed these concerns long before the commission’s work brought them into the public spotlight.
Vearey said several senior police officials whose names have emerged in connection with the commission’s proceedings reflected what he described as “systemic dysfunction” within the country’s security services, particularly SAPS.
He said these institutional problems had persisted across different political eras, including before and after 1994.
“The question that the public should participate in now is really to play a role in asking what is going to be done to the system that is dysfunctional,” Vearey said.
He cautioned against relying solely on new operational plans, policy statements or changes in leadership to resolve the problems.
“We should not be fooled by so-called new operational plans and new kind of idealistic directions,” he said, adding that replacing individuals would not necessarily address the underlying weaknesses.
Vearey stressed that attention must be given to the systems that create risks within the police service, including those affecting officials appointed to lead reform efforts.
Listen to the full interview below:
VOC News
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