Yesterday the Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council (Council) ruled that National Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole’s decision to dismiss his former deputy, Bonang Mgwenya, in 2020 was unfair.
The Council has been hearing Mgwenya’s application to overturn Sitole’s decision for months and a final arbitration award was made this week, according to Eyewitness News.
Sitole fired Mgwenya following claims that she had been involved in corruption, fraud and money laundering.
The criminal matter is expected to be heard next Thursday in the Palm Ridge Magistrates’ Court where she is still facing corruption and fraud charges. The onus of proof in a criminal case, however, is much higher than that at the Council.
In November 2020, Deputy National Police Commissioner Mgwenya was arrested as a result of what the police described as “a resolution by Police Commissioner Khehla Sitole to clean the SAPS of any form of wrongdoing by members of all ranks”.
This comes in the wake of two criminal complaints being registered against Sitole over his failure to cooperate with police watchdog, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate, in its investigation into fraud and corruption in the police.
The matter has been escalated to Police Minister Bheki Cele to advise him about Sitole’s breach of his duty in not only failing to assist with the IPID probe, but also in the investigation into the 2020 assassination of organised crime detective, Charl Kinnear.
The Council ruled that Mgwenya’s dismissal by Sitole was both “substantively and procedurally unfair”.
The police service has been ordered to pay her compensation.