Pretoria - Newly-appointed acting National Police Commissioner, Major General Nhlanhla Sibusiso Mkhwanazi, is eager to tackle his new role.
"I am looking forward to managing this entire organisation with vigour, of course with assistance from my fellow colleagues as well as the entire management of the South African Police Service (SAPS)," he said on Monday.
Mkhwanazi was appointed acting National Police Commissioner during a special media briefing by President Jacob Zuma yesterday.
According to the SAPS, Mkhwanazi joined the organisation in 1993. His initial deployment was in Public Order Policing where he managed Public Order Police responsibilities.
"He successfully managed to grow within the ranks of the police reaching the level of a Major General. He was then appointed to the Special Task force as per his outstanding performance and expertise," SAPS added.
Some of Mkhwanazi's responsibilities as the section head, Special Task Force, included counteracting volatile hostage situations on land, sea and air; performing specialised search and recovery operations; protection duties, and serving high risk warrants.
He was appointed as head of the Special Task Force in 2005.
"Currently he manages the air wing, all specialised operations, tactical response team, national intervention units, the tracking team and mobile operations, as well as Cross Border Operations. Amongst others, he supervises and maintains the running of the air wing operations and training processes," SAPS said.
The President has placed General Bheki Cele on suspension, pending the outcome of an inquiry into allegations of misconduct against him. He said a Board of Inquiry, to be chaired by retired Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, would look into the allegations.
During her investigation into the lease agreements for police headquarters in Pretoria and offices in Durban, Public Protector Advocate Thuli Madonsela found that Cele's conduct as SAPS' accounting officer was improper, unlawful conduct, which amounted to maladministration.
Madonsela's first report on the police leasing deals, released in February, pertained to her investigation into the deal for the Middestad building in Pretoria, which was leased for R500 million from businessman Roux Shabangu.
The second, released in July, scrutinised the R1.16 billion leasing of Transnet Tower in Durban, also from Shabangu.
Madonsela found that the leases were unlawful, invalid and "fatally flawed".
