The uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK Party) has called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to end the suspension of National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola without delay, the party demands that the suspension be lifted as soon as practically possible – preferably within 24 hours following the complete collapse of the criminal case against Masemola.
Case against Masemola collapses
All charges have been formally withdrawn, the MK Party notes, leaving no lawful or rational basis for keeping the country's duly appointed National Police Commissioner out of office. The National Prosecuting Authority's (NPA) explanation of “insufficient evidence” is dismissed as a serious understatement. The party characterises the prosecution as frivolous, vexatious and malicious, arguing that it merely supplied the President with a convenient pretext to remove Masemola.
Madlanga Commission evidence cited
Evidence led before the Madlanga Commission showed that General Masemola acted within roughly two weeks and used that period to complete the consultations required to ensure his decision was lawful. The Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (IDAC), the party contends, turned responsible legal caution into criminal inaction despite knowing – or being required to know – the facts.
Institutional agenda alleged
The prosecution was pursued under institutions and office-bearers appointed by Ramaphosa, including former National Director of Public Prosecutions Shamila Batohi and former IDAC head Andrea Johnson. Johnson has since resigned, IDAC investigators have been suspended, and the conduct surrounding the case has been referred for judicial scrutiny after revelations at the Madlanga Commission.
Ramaphosa moved swiftly to suspend Masemola when the charges were first laid. His refusal to reverse that decision once the case collapsed, the MK Party argues, confirms that the prosecution served a broader institutional agenda far beyond any genuine concern for compliance with the Public Finance Management Act.
Illness claims rejected
Claims that illness prevents the President from acting are rejected as contradicted by the ANC's own public record. On 16 September, the Presidency announced that Ramaphosa had been booked off public engagements and instructed to rest. Five days later, on 21 September, the ANC showed him playing golf, addressing current affairs and raising funds at the ANC Veterans' League Presidential Fundraising Golf Day at Country Club Johannesburg. If the President was well enough to hold a golf club, appear before cameras and participate in a party fundraiser, the MK Party says, he does not need to deliver a speech, attend a ceremony or even leave his bed to sign the instrument ending the suspension.
Hypocrisy amid gender-based violence crisis
The continued suspension is described as especially offensive at a time when women are being murdered in Ekurhuleni and elsewhere. While the administration has declared gender-based violence and femicide a national disaster, and Acting Police Minister Firoz Cachalia has called on senior officers to assist with the Ekurhuleni investigations, the substantive National Police Commissioner remains sidelined after the case against him disintegrated.
Call for immediate action
“The continued suspension of General Masemola is an injustice to him, an insult to the South African Police Service and reckless obstruction of stable police leadership during a national crime crisis,” the statement concludes. “Ramaphosa must perform his constitutional duty and restore General Fannie Masemola to office without further delay.”