Pretoria - Acting Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi on Thursday dismissed allegations that he looted the Crime Intelligence Division's secret service account.
This follows media reports in which Mkhwanazi was accused of financial mismanagement of the secret service account since the intervention and deployment of new managers within the Crime Intelligence Division.
"It is on this score that I would like to categorically state and vehemently dismiss any wrongdoing as suggested by the Star in their lead article today, 7 June 2012. This should be dismissed with the seriousness it deserves as it seeks to undermine efforts aimed at bringing efficiency in the environment in the interest of service delivery," he said.
According to the acting Police Commissioner, a total of 149 vehicles in the region of R35 million were bought in the last quarter of the financial year 2011/2012 for distribution for Crime Intelligence activities in all nine provinces including Head Office.
This, he said, included new service and replacement of boarded vehicles, adding that the average cost of each vehicle was approximately R235 000 and 95 percent of the vehicles procured comprised of vehicles with engine capacity of 1.4 litre to 2.0 litre.
Mkhwanazi said not a single of these 149 newly procured vehicles were moved to another division within the South African Police Services (SAPS) as suggested by the media reports.
"Yes indeed, five other vehicles which were not being optimally used were moved from Crime Intelligence to another division. However, these vehicles were not procured in the year under review.
"This was indeed well within my responsibility as the accounting officer, which in this case is the Acting National Commissioner of the SAPS," he said.
According to Mkhwanazi there is no contravention of any Act or law in this regard. He said section 2(1) of the Secret Services Act makes provision for the accounting officer to be accountable for the administration of the account and this includes the utilization of resources most advantageously as he deems fit.
"This information should not be cooked to mislead the public. This is the main reason we had to call this media conference at short notice to clarify this issue which puts SAPS in a negative light. The South African Police Service certainly does not just procure goods and services just for the sake of spending," he said.
Mkhwanazi said all spending was informed by a needs assessment and major spending in the last quarter was due to the accumulation of needs during the course of the year.
"Therefore, the bulk of the needs are procured in the last quarter as is the case of the procurement of the vehicles for R35 million in the last quarter of the 2011/2012 financial year," he said.
He added that the police would continue to do its utmost to deliver on its fundamental mandate of ensuring that the people of South Africa are and feel safe.
