Pretoria - National Police Commissioner Bheki Cele has met the deadline to make his submission to the Public Protector regarding the controversial multimillion rand lease for the police head office building.
Cele has been accused of agreeing to a R500 million property lease with politically connected businessman Roux Shabangu - without putting it out to tender -
According to National Treasury regulations, all contracts over R500 000 must go through a competitive bidding process.
Cele had until midnight to come up with credible reasons for breaching Treasury rules by securing the new building without going to tender.
"We have met the deadline and we are confident that the comments we [made] are with merit," Cele's spokesperson, Nonkululeko Mbatha, told BuaNews.
Last night's deadline was an extension from the first deadline of 3 January. It was granted after the police had asked for more time to respond to Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela's request.
Mbatha said the police ministry will now wait for a directive from the Public Protector on the matter.
Madonsela's spokesperson, Oupa Segalwe, said they would evaluate the submission, including comment from other departments and where necessary, integrate it into the report.
Segalwe, who stands by his statement that the Public Protector's office was not under political pressure to water down its findings, said a full report will be released in February.
