Ian Cameron opens the can of worms at Crime Intelligence…

The South African Police Service's Crime Intelligence Division has been hit by one scandal after another. In this interview with BizNews, Ian Cameron, the Chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police, talks about the second sacking of the former Head of Crime Intelligence in the Western Cape; the luxury hotel bought for almost 23 million; the "tip of the iceberg" robbery of well over 1 million; the "strong" factional battle in which documents are strategically leaked to cast aspersions; the "chaotic politics"; the alleged links between certain Crime Intelligence officials of high rank and organised crime kingpins; and the lack of intelligence needed to "expose people in government that are involved" in extortion. Cameron also describes the horror findings of committee members on oversight visits. "Some of these stations…even have squatters living in the garden of the police station." However, he does have praise for Police Minister Senzo Mchunu who "easily acknowledges faults and issues"..Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here..The seventh BizNews Conference, BNC#7, is to be held in Hermanus from March 11 to 13, 2025. The 2025 BizNews Conference is designed to provide an excellent opportunity for members of the BizNews community to interact directly with the keynote speakers, old (and new) friends from previous BNC events – and to interact with members of the BizNews team. Register for BNC#7 here..If you prefer WhatsApp for updates, sign up to the BizNews channel here..Watch here.Listen here.Highlights from the interview .In an interview with Chris Steyn, Ian Cameron, Chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police, discussed the numerous scandals plaguing South Africa's Crime Intelligence Division. Cameron welcomed the recent dismissal of the Western Cape's Crime Intelligence head, who had faced multiple allegations, including misconduct, abuse of power, and criminal charges. Despite the dismissal, Cameron expressed concern that the individual might fight the decision, given the controversy surrounding him. He also addressed the suspicious purchase of a luxury hotel by the South African Police Service (SAPS) for almost R23 million, which raised doubts about its use of funds, especially when SAPS claims to lack resources for more pressing needs..Cameron highlighted ongoing factional infighting within Crime Intelligence, with members allegedly leaking documents to discredit one another. He criticised the lack of proactive measures in preventing crime, citing the case of a hitmen attack in Nyanga where police failed to stop the threat despite prior warnings. Cameron also expressed concerns about the integrity of senior police figures, mentioning an acting provincial commissioner with outstanding disciplinary charges, and called for higher standards of accountability for top officials..On a more constructive note, Cameron suggested adopting a "fusion centre" model for intelligence gathering, similar to successful systems in other countries. He also emphasised the need for improved oversight at police stations, pointing to dilapidated conditions at Muizenberg Police Station and the shortage of detectives and vehicles. Going forward, he highlighted the crisis of extortion in South Africa and called for integrated efforts between police, justice, and correctional services to address organised crime, which often operates from within prisons..Edited transcript of the interview ___STEADY_PAYWALL___.Chris Steyn (00:01.49).The South African Police's Crime Intelligence Division has been hit by one scandal after another. We speak to Ian Cameron, the Chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police. Welcome, Ian..Chris Steyn (00:17.402).Ian, shall we start with a second sacking of the former Head of Crime Intelligence in the Western Cape?.Ian (00:24.942).So Chris, absolutely. I think it's something that we have, that I have welcomed, from a committee point of view, we've welcomed. It's something that we've really been fighting about quite a bit. You'd remember last year at the beginning of December, the South African Police Service revoked the dismissal of the previous Head of Crime Intelligence in the Western Cape. He was dismissed in August of 2024. And then suddenly we hear about it being revoked..And after a very heated, and let's rather call it a robust discussion with the National Commissioner, the Minister, the entire committee and the management offset, I must say I need to commend the South African Police Service for actually then handling it with urgency. So he was dismissed this past Monday and I think that he will try and fight it. I wouldn't be surprised..Remember that there are a lot of questions about alleged misconduct regarding the abuse of power, the abuse of state resources for a non-sanctioned investigation, the loss and theft, rather theft of his service pistol, laptop, assault, kidnapping charges. There's a whole list of question marks around the individual..And I can tell you now that the amount of controversial names that come up in discussions and reports and so on regarding this person also creates doubt. Now, it's important that from an objective point of view, one must mention that investigation must be done completely and that we can't just make assertions about the individual..But at the same time, the damage done within the South African Police Service regarding the individual has been significant. And if you speak to members that have been impacted directly or indirectly by this person and you go and look in the region, geographic region of operation of the family, et cetera, then there are even more doubtful things that would certainly….Ian (02:49.302).…have a negative impact on SAPS and obviously public trust in the South African Police Service..Chris Steyn (02:54.258).And onto the luxury hotel, bought for almost 23 million..Ian (03:01.07).Yeah, I mean, there's just so many questions about this. Firstly, I think it's important to understand that from a committee point of view, we've already written to the Minister and the National Commissioner. Within the scope of the Police Committee, there are quite a few questions that we can ask in terms of the intelligence funds used that would fall under the Joint Intelligence Committee, which is a whole different committee – and they have also started the process of following that up. .I've heard both sides of the story. I've heard that it could be a potential asset to SAPS and it's pointless for them to pay rent of other properties, et cetera, and that it could be used and so on. The problem with this is though that it just looks so extremely suspicious. It just looks…looks wrong. It feels like something's fishy. .And what bothers me is that this amount of money could be used for something like that. But then SAPS say they don't have money for, you know, to pay informants. So, you know, it's something just doesn't add up. And it's going to be very interesting to see how it pans out. .Obviously, within the scope of our mandate, we'll question as far as we possibly can, and try and hold the relevant people to account, and whether it's the Divisional Commissioner, the National Commissioner, even the Minister, we'll need to ask certain questions. I have submitted quite a few questions this past week regarding this and a few broader issues within the Crime Intelligence environment, which seems to be stuck in a massive factional fight. And this rut has just grown bigger and bigger over the last three to four months..And it's interesting because as soon as the minister started acting and questioning certain individuals, certain divisions, the committee started questioning from different political points of view as well. It's as though the conflict from within has increased significantly. And it's going to take a lot of work to clean up, especially in terms of Crime Intelligence..Chris Steyn (05:21.074).And then there was the robbery of well over 1 million..Ian (05:25.942).Yeah, so mean, again, not only doubtful in terms of local leadership of Crime Intelligence, but what on earth are they walking around with that amount of cash for? I mean, that in itself raises eyebrows. And again, inside job, allegedly. And it seems that there was significant influence from police members or a member..And I can tell you now that it's the tip of the iceberg. The fact that something like this leaked, especially with regards to intelligence-related funds. These are things we don't often hear about. .And that leads me to a lot of the so-called reports and so-called posts and things we've been seeing over the last few months from Crime Intelligence…it really has become a matter where.you can clearly see factions trying to influence each other's opinions and you can clearly see documents are strategically leaked to cause aspersions regarding people and each other. So it's very, very clear that there's a strong factional battle going on at the moment within that environment..Chris Steyn (06:41.518).And Ian, what other worms are crawling out of this Crime Intelligence can that you can talk about? I know there's much that you can't talk about..Ian (06:50.016).Yeah, so I mean, I've got no problem about talking about it quite, quite openly. I had a good laugh. And I'm not going to say names unnecessarily. I had a very good laugh when I read that I was at the hotel on the 30th of December. And unless someone cloned me, I would have struggled to ride there on my bicycle because I was mountain biking in the Winelands on that on that day, which was quite spectacular, I might add..And so too, I've been reading bits and pieces about VIP Protection. Now, unless they are extremely well trained to be undercover, I haven't even met these so-called officers yet. And yesterday when I drove to Parliament myself, I also didn't notice anyone following me that are supposedly looking after me and certainly no one introduced themselves..So in terms of this environment, what the suggestion was this week in the Cluster Media Briefing at Parliament was that we should actually look, and this is outside of the chaotic politics inside Crime Intelligence, the ideal would be that we look at a kind of a fusion center model. Nothing new, it's been done in many countries and to a certain extent the city of Cape Town has done it really, really well. Where you've got a specific nodal point where intelligence is not only gathered but also disseminated to the correct agency or institution in order to handle however they need to do that on determined threats, risks, etc. We made the suggestion at the Parliamentary Press Briefing and it was received extremely well. …we still have this mindset with regards to policing in South Africa that we can just send uniforms to the problem, but that is not sustainable in any way. Yes, it helps to stabilise for a short period of time, but with crimes like extortion and other kinds of organised crime, it really cannot….Ian (09:06.338).be sustainably managed or stopped if you don't have decent crime intelligence to proactively act and also to start targeting certain kingpins. .At the moment, I also laughed when I read about the so-called kingpin that escaped from Stilfontein and I enjoyed the fact that his middle name is Tiger. So when I read about Tiger, I thought to myself that surely whoever is heading up that specific investigation must know that the South African public aren't completely daft. There's no way that first of all that person can be the real kingpin. Illegal mining in South Africa has four deeper roots than one little tiger. And yes, tiger might have certain, you know, bad things behind his name and may have been a local leader of some kind, but illegal mining flourishes usually when there are certain politicians also involved somehow pulling strings in certain places. And unfortunately, and you know, it could also include high level police officials, even others, whether it is a Prosecuting Authority or the Department of Justice, whatever it might be. And I'm not creating doubt about the specific incident; just saying it's far deeper rooted than just saying that this is the kingpin. .And that leads me to say that our current Crime Intelligence environment is not one that is healthy. .Lastly, Chris, if we look at the incident that you would have seen happened in Nyanga when seven people were shot. Now the police were warned about that. And firstly, I must applaud the City of Cape Town because they picked up that known hit men had come into the area from the Eastern Cape, they even indicated to the police where they suspect that something may happen and who these hitmen are. And the police did put certain measures in place to react properly. But this is where my questioning starts is why did we have to put measures in place to react properly? Why don't we have measures to proactively stop the threat? And I'm not saying it's always possible in every scenario because it won't be, but possibly in this one it could have been. So yeah,….Ian (11:31.488).I think that summarizes the state of affairs to you..Chris Steyn (11:35.122).Now Ian, some of my sources have expressed concern about the links between certain crime intelligence officials of high rank and organised crime. I don't know what you can say about that..Ian (11:53.676).Yeah, no, for sure…. I mentioned quite a few of these matters last year during committee sessions. I was threatened with all sorts of legal notices and things. And we are actually busy at the moment getting a legal opinion in Parliament about how far we can go with regards to the committee in this to make sure we don't put the investigation at risk, but also that we don't put ourselves at risk. .But that being said, there's no doubt that there are serious, serious question marks regarding senior figures in the South African Police Service. I can tell you now that the current Provincial or Acting Provincial Commissioner, for example, and yes, it's not Crime Intelligence as such, but just as an example, the Acting Commissioner in North West has several outstanding disciplinary charges against him. I'm told there are criminal investigations or charges too..And then you kind of wonder how is the decision made to appoint that specific person in that position. And I'm not saying that person should never be considered, but then they must first prove that, you know, that it is not the case. Specifically with something like that, I mean, you need to be held at an even higher standard. There's clear evidence for this; it isn't something I'm sucking out of my thumb. It's been in the media quite a bit too. .And then you can go look at other areas and appointments where it seems that once you're in a senior position in SAPS, then the action taken against you compared to junior officials is just not nearly as serious as you would expect. .Now last year we spoke about Major General Mbotho from the Hawks that was promoted to Lieutenant General in the Hawks. And this is the same guy that sent porn to his investigators while heading up the Child Protection units in the Western Cape. He was involved in a matter that eventually interfered in the arrest of someone on Interpol's List. And despite that, the Head of the Hawks just said, our disciplinary procedures are corrective, not punitive. And he's done his time..Ian (14:18.86).Now, when you become a general and you become someone of that status in the South African Police Service, you need to be beyond reproach, you know. And you can go look in history, those that are beyond reproach and that were beyond reproach are really significant law enforcement members or members of the law enforcement community. And so, yes, we've got a lot to do. We've set up quite a few inquiries….Ian (14:47.182).…from the committee side regarding these individuals. I know that some of the committee members have, was said to have gone to lay charges against certain members. I don't know what the status of that is. It wasn't done on behalf of the committee. So it would be interesting to see the outcome over the coming months. And then we'd have to take it from there..Chris Steyn (15:13.682).But with all that happening, they decide to close the investigative division. Sorry, Inspectorate Division..Ian (15:21.064).Yeah, it's….Yes, so they they closed the the National Inspectorate or they are aiming to close the National Inspectorate on a provincial level too. Extremely concerning, the National Inspectorate is a critical part of not only restoring but upholding some kind of integrity and SAPS. In my opinion, it's something that should be further built out and extra resources should be pushed in that direction. It's almost like an independent internal body and it not only assists in advising how change at stations or units need to occur, but it can also actually do the specific intervention. So whether it is removing members or transferring members or changing the structure inside a station, that's up. There's so much that they're responsible for and monitoring and evaluation is a critical part of a successful policing service. Now that internal body or accountability metric is critical to have in the form of an inspectorate. And you can call it whatever you like. It's been called many names before, but National Inspectorate, in my opinion, is one of the only parts of SAPS that still functions relatively well. It's not perfect. It's by no means big enough, but it at least does something. And I've seen intervention at certain stations and units by Inspectorate before – and it was remarkable to see the influence that they had. .So we've asked the Minister and the National Commissioner to be ready to come and present to the committee. I read some of the media headlines about it and they make it sound like they have to report to the headmaster's office and it's not nearly, it wasn't done in that way. But to us, it is important that we get clarity on what the potential solution might be, that they don't just stop it and then it….Ian (17:17.112).…kind of hangs in the air and there's nothing to replace it. And how are they going to structure it? And I'm concerned about the fact that they didn't mention this going through the budget process last year, and that they didn't speak about it at the committee, because it's a critical part of oversight that very, very differently touches on oversight that we do. Yeah, it's going to be interesting to hear what their take is..Remember too that so far they haven't said much in public about this. It's almost as though they choose not to comment. Yesterday a journalist said to me that the Minister's spokesperson said the Minister won't comment on it yet. What the reason is I don't know, but it has been confirmed to us not only through the National Head Office of SAPS, but also through several members in the police..Chris Steyn (18:09.714).Now, meanwhile, the committee has traveled all across South Africa to do oversight visits at police stations. What are the biggest concerns?.Ian (18:22.306).Yeah, so on an individual level, a lot of the members have done unannounced and announced visits at several stations across the country. I myself have done quite a few last week. I was at Muizenberg Police Station and there's a whole list of things. .I think first the approach by us to go there is not only to scrutinise or criticise the police. It's important that we also want to make sure that the police have a good working environment. And if you go to a station like Muizenberg, it's positive to see that the way that they approach their jobs; the spirit inside the station is one that is positive. You you get a good feeling when you walk through there. But if you look at the dilapidated status of the building, then it is of extreme concern. Not only does it pose a potential danger to the station members, but it is simply not sustainable. I mean, some parts of the roof, for example, is so rotten that they can't even put gutters up because as soon as they put the gutters up, the fascia boards just collapsed. Windows that have been blown out by the wind. So those basic things are very important to us. But then also questions regarding the fixed establishment. How many members do they have? How have they been allocated? Do they have sufficient detectives?.Ian (19:40.824).Problems that we've picked up is that Crime Intelligence is significantly lacking and detective shortages are a real problem. Something else is vehicle shortages, which we all know is a massive problem in the South African Police Service. .We often also hear reports that now it's been solved on a national level, we get these reports, but when we go to the actual stations, we hear a different story. .The approach in the committee, which is positive in my opinion is that regardless of political party or political affiliation, the members speak to cops on the ground and they get a feeling for what the reality is on the ground before we engage on committee level. So we can't just be fed a whole lot of presentations or stats, but we know the reality on the ground is something else. .And that being said, the last few months, it's been quite positive to see the fact that the Minister, as well as the National Commissioner, but more so the Minister, easily acknowledges faults and issues. But then also you can already hear that there has been some kind of engagement on it. It's not just something that, you know, is blown by and that they would just, you know, let it be the way that it is. Muizenberg is an example, you know. He heard about the problem there. They immediately visited the station after a press briefing and on their way already contacted the necessary departments and they fixed some of the roof leaks. Not nearly enough, but at least there is a little bit more urgency, or it feels like there is, to solve some of the challenges. .The other part is Public Works. And this is where we've now written to the Minister of Public Works to also ask for intervention on station level at the critical stations where we really need structural improvement or repairs. Some of these stations don't even have fences around them. Some of them even have squatters living in the garden of the police station. So it is not safe for members or members of the public to necessarily go and move around the station..Chris Steyn (21:51.762).Ian, are there any other items high on your agenda as Chairman of the portfolio committee going forward this year?.Ian (22:00.586).Yeah, so extortion is very high on the list. Extortion is a crisis in South Africa. It again brings me back to Crime Intelligence. If we don't have a proper crime intelligence structure, we can't expect to stop extortion. We need to be able to zoom in on kingpins and not just make low level arrests on ground level because that's what's happening. .Now, SAPS, if you go read the reports by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime, you would see that they constantly say that SAPS has an approach of high numbers of low level arrests. So we have this arrest machine of being arrested, going to court, being released, being arrested, going to court, being released, and the cycle just continues. But we never get to the mastermind, the puppeteer that runs that entire process. that's where we need to be aiming. And that will also expose people in government that are involved with this..I honestly believe that a lot of the so-called reports or posts that we've been seeing about ourselves is often because we've been asking questions regarding these things. I think that it's going to take quite a bit of time. .I'm concerned about SAPS approach with extortion in certain areas that they just send uniform members there, but that they don't put down a sustainable plan of action and whether it's a task team or a unit or whatever they want to call it, that can constantly continue to not only investigate but follow up future needs as well as it pans out. It's not something that's going to go away overnight. .And then the other part of the extortion fight is to see that there is some form of integration between Correctional Services, Justice and Police because it's unfair to think that the police must battle it on their own. A lot of the extortion rings are run from inside prisons. So you might arrest them on the outside, but that person just calls the next foot soldier to do whatever they are commanded to do..Chris Steyn (24:11.196).Thank you. That was Ian Cameron, the Chairperson of Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Police, giving BizNews viewers an update on the state of policing in South Africa. Thank you, Ian, and I'm Chris Steyn.Ian (24:28.078).Thank you, Chris..Read also:.DA in the GNU: Strategic partner or political liability? – KatzenellenbogenCorruption busting, cost-cutting & construction building a better KZNSteel closures threaten South Africa's $257bn infrastructure plan

Ian Cameron opens the can of worms at Crime Intelligence…

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