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"contents": "<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fake news and misinformation being spread via social media is a widespread problem.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This issue surfaced in Parliament on Wednesday, 5 March 2025, during a Crime Intelligence presentation to the police committee.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The South African Police Service’s (SAPS’s) Crime Intelligence unit has for a long time had a bad reputation — which has, in various cases, been shaped by its members. </span>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-12-10-former-crime-intelligence-boss-richard-mdluli-to-finally-face-trial-in-april-2025/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Richard Mdluli</span></a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, for example, who headed the division between 2009 and 2012, is now a convicted criminal facing a fraud and corruption trial.</span>\r\n\r\n<b>Read more:</b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> </span><a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2021-07-13-zumas-legacy-the-build-up-to-breaking-down-crime-intelligence/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zuma’s legacy: The build-up to breaking down Crime Intelligence</span></a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Allegations of members of the unit looting a secret service account also persist.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In Parliament, during the meeting on Wednesday, Police Minister Senzo Mchunu pointed out that there were people in the country who specialised in making allegations against certain individuals or institutions.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Crime Intelligence presentation shown during the meeting said that the unit had a proper management structure at head office. But it added that the unit was often the target of claims that made it seem as if it was in disarray.</span>\r\n<h4><b>‘Misinformation, fake news, unproven allegations’</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“There are certain individuals within the organisation and the public who are responsible for the misinformation, fake news, unproven allegations and leakage of sensitive information that are always trending on social media, giving an impression that there is instability within the division,” the presentation said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“The division has been experiencing a lot of misrepresentation of truth through social media platforms in respect of decisions and control measures put in place by the management, as a strategy of push-back by those who were and are still unlawfully benefiting… and would want to keep the status quo.”</span>\r\n\r\nhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36venqS0ljw\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It said that social media monitoring would be intensified through a new tool that was being acquired. The appointment of “social media monitoring specialists” was also at an advanced stage.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But during the meeting on Wednesday, politicians present were highly critical of the unit, saying that while “fake news” may be peddled, internal issues were creating real problems.</span>\r\n<h4><b>‘Unhinged’</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The DA’s Dianne Kohler Barnard referenced the case of Richard Mdluli.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">She said she recently heard the word “instability” mentioned frequently in terms of the unit, which she pointed out had been headed by eight different bosses since Mdluli.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“It’s not unstable, it’s positively unhinged,” Kohler Barnard said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The National Coloured Congress’s Fadiel Adams said that while a lot of what was being said on social media about the police was untrue, there were serious issues affecting Crime Intelligence.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One involved Deputy Crime Intelligence Head Feroz Khan.</span>\r\n\r\n<b>Read more:</b> <a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-11-01-the-khan-and-the-king-power-struggle-crime-intelligence-deputy-feroz-khans-battle-reflects-saps-decline/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Khan and the king power struggle — Crime Intelligence deputy Feroz Khan’s battle reflects SAPS decline</span></a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Late last year it was reported that Khan was the focus of an expeditious disciplinary process. </span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He was caught up in accusations of questionable actions related to drugs, which he denied.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Crime Intelligence presentation to Parliament on Wednesday said the Independent Police Investigative Directorate carried out an investigation against Khan and recommended that disciplinary steps be taken against him.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An internal investigation had concluded the same.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But the presentation said the matter had been finalised and that its status was that of an acquittal.</span>\r\n<h4><b>‘Seems like a mafia’</b></h4>\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">During Wednesday’s meeting when Adams referenced Khan, he said Khan may have been falsely accused, which meant other members in the police service were at fault but not being held to account.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adams had also referenced the matter against former Western Cape Crime Intelligence boss Mzwandile Tiyo, who was dismissed from the police service.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Daily Maverick recently reported that Tiyo was expected to appear in a Cape Town court later this month in a gun theft negligence case.</span>\r\n\r\n<b>Read more:</b> <a href=\"https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-02-21-fired-western-cape-crime-intelligence-boss-mzwandile-tiyo-set-for-court/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">‘Double axed’ Western Cape crime intelligence boss Mzwandile Tiyo summoned to court in gun theft negligence saga</span></a>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tiyo, via a lawyer, had countered that he was the target of a political witch hunt.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">On Wednesday, Adams questioned whether Tiyo was being prosecuted or persecuted.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">“Is Crime Intelligence nothing more than a mafia? It appears so,” Adams said.</span>\r\n\r\n<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Meanwhile, it emerged on Wednesday that the police had asked that the report detailing Crime Intelligence matters, being referenced during the meeting in Parliament, not initially be widely distributed as there were concerns about information leaks. </span><b>DM</b>",
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