The new acting head of crime intelligence, Major-General King Bhoyi Ngcobo, was formerly one of Zuma’s bodyguards.
This appointment confirms political analysts’ view that key positions are filled with people who are loyal to Zuma and thus strengthens the hold on intelligence and police structures.
This is confirmed by Dr. Pieter Groenewald, leader of FF Plus, and believes that Ngcobo’s appointment is worrying as it is clearly just another deployment of a loyal cadre of Jacob Zuma.
Dr. Groenewald said although Ngcobo has reasonable experience in the police with his twenty years of service, there is a cloud of controversy over his head because of allegations that he has forged his matric certificate.
Before Ngcobo acted as head of intelligence, for a brief period, during Richard Mdului’s suspension, he was a personal bodyguard of the president and became very close to the head of the state.
According to Dr. Groenewald is clear that President Zuma wants total control over the different departments of intelligence services, in this case, crime intelligence.
“The former acting head of crime intelligence, general major Pat Mokushane, was replaced because he obtained a fake security clearance. This raises questions about the credibility of the process of vetting. The question can, therefore, be asked how credible is Ngcobo’s clearance?”
“This appointment also raises concerns about the future appointment of a permanent national police commissioner. It is clear that President Zuma surrounds himself with loyalists and will not hesitate to make a political appointment again in this post.”
“The police are in a crisis as its top management is not up to standard because of appointments in strategic positions and because political deployments surpass expertise and experience,” said Dr. Groenewald.
Read the original article in Afrikaans on Die Vryburger
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