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Parliament demands answers about Hawks’ appointment of scandal-ridden major general

Parliament demands answers about Hawks’ appointment of scandal-ridden major general
Velani Ludidi
By Velani Ludidi
18 Sep 2024
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Hawks boss Godfrey Lebeya has defended the appointment of Major General Patrick Mbotho to a new post, despite his past controversies. Lebeya claimed Mbotho had a sterling CV.

‘How do we justify an appointment of a general that previously was found not only [to have] sent pornographic material to his detective command … but also continuing with underworld activities, meeting with well-known underworld figures in Cape Town involved in extortion, among other things?” 

These questions were posed by the chairperson of Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police, Ian Cameron, on Wednesday, over the appointment of Major General Patrick Mbotho as divisional commissioner for national priority offences at the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI), known as the Hawks. 

“I am not happy with it,” Cameron told Daily Maverick on the sidelines of the meeting.

“We have seen people being dismissed from the police for using the wrong language on social media, but someone with this kind of reputation gets to be promoted to the rank of lieutenant general. What indicates that this individual is above reproach? The appointment erodes public trust in the police.” 

Mbotho was the Western Cape deputy provincial commissioner of detectives when he posted explicit sexual content on a police WhatsApp group in 2017. After this, he was redeployed to head the DPCI in North West.

Read more: SAPS Major General promoted to Hawks despite being implicated in sex video and underworld meetings

In May 2017, News24 reported that Mbotho had been present at two meetings at a luxury Cape Town hotel with alleged underworld figure Nafiz Modack along with a SAPS colleague, then Northern Cape provincial commissioner Risimati Shivuri.

Mbotho denied that he had met Modack at the hotel.

At the time, SAPS spokesperson Brigadier Novela Potelwa said Mbotho had summoned Modack to his office after Modack had lodged a complaint against the police. 

The complaint, she said, had fallen outside the jurisdiction of the Western Cape and was directed elsewhere.

Modack and 14 co-accused collectively face 124 charges, including murder, attempted murder, corruption, gangsterism, extortion, the illegal interception of communications, racketeering, money laundering and contravention of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.

He also faces allegations that he orchestrated the assassination of Anti-Gang Unit member Lieutenant Colonel Charl Kinnear in 2020. He has denied this.

Hawks defend appointment


The committee was not scheduled to discuss Mbotho’s appointment on Wednesday, but it noted that, since the story was reported by Daily Maverick, they should demand answers from the police leadership present in Parliament, who were there to brief members on an intervention plan to combat extortion.

Daily Maverick has also obtained a letter from the committee chair addressed to Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, National Commissioner Fannie Masemola and Hawks head Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya. The letter asks who the other shortlisted candidates were and whether Mbotho’s conduct was taken into account before the appointment.

The police leadership attempted to evade the questions, saying they were not in Parliament to discuss the issue. However, EFF MP Molebogeng Letlape and National Coloured Congress MP Fadiel Adams insisted that since the officials were already present, they should respond.

Lebeya clarified that moving Mbotho to North West was an appointment, not a promotion or a transfer from the Western Cape scandal. He said Mbotho had been vetted and previously disciplined, highlighting his accomplishments in North West.

“He is the most senior in all the current provincial heads,” said Lebeya.

“When it comes to convictions, the North West came first. That is the province he is heading. This official [Mbotho], in his junior times, cleaned the corruption in the Gauteng [police vehicle] pound. I would have loved to read his CV to see what kind of officer we are dealing with.”

Lebeya said Mbotho had the highest score in the hiring process and that all the scores would be submitted to Parliament.

The committee proposed reviewing the appointment, but Lebeya questioned which legislation governed such a review.

Rise Mzansi’s Makashule Gana said the appointment of Mbotho was a concern, but the parliamentary committee was not a police appointment committee.

“The appointments within Hawks do not go through Parliament,” he said.

“We do not want to play the appointing function. It is just to say you must give comfort to South Africans that the people that are appointed to fight crime, themselves are not marred by acts of criminality with other people.”  

MK’s David Skosana defended the appointment.

“You cannot be holding a grudge against a person forever,” he said. “We have restorative justice, which gives people another opportunity in life.”

The matter will be revisited on Friday during an oversight meeting. DM

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