National Commissioner of SAPS General Sehlahle Fannie Masemola announced the appointment of the new presidential protection head and new commissioner on Saturday.
The announcement was made after SAPS management held a board of commissioners meeting on Thursday to decide on key appointments, including the new deputy national commissioner for policing, a position previously held by Masemola before his rise to the top job.
Lieutenant General Tebello Mosikili, the former acting national head of the Hawks, now occupy’s Masemola’s former post.
Molefe Fani, currently the acting Chief Procurement Officer for National Treasury, was appointed Divisional Commissioner for Supply Chain Management (SCM), from next month.
“The appointment of senior managers to key positions in the organisation forms part of the national commissioner’s broader strategy to fill in critical vacancies to expedite the delivery of services to communities, said SAPS spokesperson Athlenda Mathe.
Mathe said Mosikili’s responsibilities included overseeing all visible policing and operations, as well as protection and security services (PSS).
“The new deputy national commissioner will also, with immediate effect, assume the role of co-chairperson of the National Joint Operational and Intelligence Structure (NatJOINTS) alongside the chairpersons from the State Security Agency (SSA)and the South African National Defence Force(SANDF),” said Mathe.
SAPS also announced that Lieutenant General Sam Shitlabane will with immediate effect oversee the Presidential Protection Service (PPS). Shitlabane replaces Major-Gen Wally Rhoode who was removed this week. Rhoode was in the spotlight after reports of the robbery at President Cyril Ramaphosa’s Phala Phala farm where US$ 6million was stolen.
Former SSA boss Arthur Fraser stated in his affidavit to police that Rhoode had allegedly ordered crime intelligence officers to help track down the alleged perpetrators.
Mathe said the changes were made as Masemola was “putting measures in place to strengthen and enhance governance and accountability.
“Thus implementing this as an interim measure to ensure effective and efficient command and control; and also promote better coordination of functions within the organisation,” she said.
Mathe added that Masemola used the special meeting to inform the executive management of the SAPS on developments around critical positions in the SAPS.
