A parliamentary ad hoc committee investigating corruption within the South African Police Service (SAPS) heard startling revelations on Tuesday regarding multi-million-rand expenditures and a pervasive culture of financial mismanagement.
South African Police Service Chief Financial Officer, Puleng Dimpane, testified that R435 million was spent on the KwaZulu-Natal Political Killings Task Team (PKTT) since its inception. Dimpane stated that overtime, travel, and accommodation constituted the bulk of the costs.
The testimony placed a spotlight on broader financial irregularities within the police service. Dimpane confirmed that irregular expenditure for the 2024/25 financial year alone amounted to R649 million, citing a prevailing “culture of no real consequence management.”
Security strategist Andy Mashaile, analyzing the figures, described the situation as “deep-seated” rot. He praised Dimpane’s detailed accounting but expressed alarm at the systemic failures.
“The rot is very deep,” Mashaile stated. He compared the PKTT’s R435 million expenditure since 2018 to the R958 million in total irregular expenditure and the R418 million reportedly spent on policing a one-day protest march. “One can say one is not surprised with the weak fish and chips consequence management that we have seen,” he added.
Mashaile was scathing in his assessment of internal discipline, labelling it “criminal consequences management.” He criticized the common practice of moving finance officials between stations instead of holding them accountable for violations of the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA).
He highlighted the human cost, alleging that junior police officers sometimes go unpaid for high-risk duties because “monies that have been ring-fenced for these projects have never trickled down.” Mashaile called for irregular expenditure to be treated as a prosecutable financial crime.
A key revelation from Dimpane’s testimony challenged the official rationale for disbanding the PKTT. The CFO told the committee she had no discussions with Police Minister Bheki Cele about the disbandment. Mashaile argued this proved that “the cost factor the minister is referring to is not at the core of the decision.”
“The expenditure of the PKTT compared to other units was on par… it was not excessive,” Mashaile said. “The picture that we were sold by the minister says to us the cost figure here… did not come to play.”
The discussion on financial mismanagement was juxtaposed with a breaking news event underscoring operational failures: the escape of six suspects from the Lichtenburg Police Station. The suspects, facing charges including murder, rape, and possession of an unlicensed firearm, remain at large.
Mashaile connected the escape directly to resource misallocation, questioning why funds were not spent on basic security technology. “Why don’t we have cameras? Why don’t we have a drone that patrols?” he asked. “Yet our expenditure goes way up high and [does] not protect the very same officers… let alone keep those who are incarcerated inside.”
The testimonies before the ad hoc committee paint a picture of an organization grappling with severe financial control failures, weak accountability, and alleged political interference, raising urgent questions about the stewardship of public funds and its impact on core policing functions.
