Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Police says the ball is now in the hands of the Minister of Police to ensure leadership stability at the Hawks.
This after Pretoria High Court dismissed an application by Major General Berning Ntlemeza for leave to appeal a previous order of the court that set aside his appointment as head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation.
Committee chairperson, Francois Beukman, said in a statement on Wednesday that the appointment of the new Hawks boss must be done in line with the Constitutional requirements.
“We believe it is essential that an acting head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation be appointed as soon as possible, and that the process of ultimately appointing the new head of DPCI/Hawks is commenced immediately,” Beukman said.
Beukman said the Portfolio Committee also called on ordinary members of the DPCI/Hawks not to be demotivated by these developments, but to continue with their important task of fighting organised crime, and leave the appointment processes of the new head to those who are tasked with that responsibility.
The DA called on Ntlemeza to vacate his position immediately.
