Premier
With reference to the 2022 report of the Western Cape Police Ombudsman into alleged links between members of the SAPS and organised crime syndicates:
- On what date did he receive the report from the Ombudsman;
- whether he or any other member of his Cabinet has formally engaged with the national Minister of Police regarding the contents of the report; if not, why not; if so, what were the outcomes of such engagements;
- given that the report was submitted in 2022, what measures has the Western Cape Government taken in the interim to (a) address or (b) monitor alleged gang infiltration in SAPS structures in the province;
- whether he has communicated any timeline or intention to release the report, in full or in part, to the public or to the Western Cape Provincial Parliament; if not, why not; if so, what is the timeline?
- 17 November 2022
- The Minister of Police Oversight and Community Safety held meetings with the Executive Director of IPID and formally wrote to the Executive Director to request IPID investigate the allegations.
Nearly two years later, on 1 October 2024, the IPID investigation finally commenced. While the Terms of Reference for the IPID investigation note that a full timeframe of its investigation could not be predetermined, they did state that a comprehensive report on preliminary findings will be made available within 12 months. That deadline recently passed, and Minister Marais has written to IPID to request a formal update on the preliminary findings.
Minister Marais also requested a meeting with the National Minister of Police, Mr Senzo Mchunu, on 8 October 2024 to discuss the proposed support to IPID to deal with these critical investigations. Unfortunately, that meeting request as well as three subsequent requests to secure a meeting with Minister Mchunu went unanswered.
Given the apparent lack of urgency from national bodies tasked with investigating these allegations, I decided that more needed to be done. It was for this reason that I sought to have senior leadership of the Western Cape SAPS subjected to lifestyle audits.
Our request for lifestyle audits for senior members of the Western Cape SAPS was first contained in a letter to the provincial commissioner on 17 April 2023. Noting budget constraints and how seriously we took these allegations, we even offered to pay for these audits.
My office followed up on that letter on multiple occasions over two years, including escalating the request and offer to two national ministers of police. Verbal agreements were later met with written declines to take up our offer.
On 28 February 2025, Minister Mchunu’s office reverted, stating that, “The Minister has noted the contents of the letter and requests you to continue with the implementation working with the Provincial Commissioner of the Western Cape Lt Gen Patekile.”
But on 5 March 2025, a letter from Lt Gen Patekile was received by my office in which he declined the Western Cape Government’s offer to fund the lifestyle audits.
- Please see above.
- The report was tabled in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament on 13 November 2025 with relevant sections redacted to protect the safety of police investigators.
For additional information, I have attached the text of my executive statement in the House on 13 November 2025.
