Karima Brown
BDFM Online
Friday, November 17, 2006
Political Editor
POLITICAL pressure is mounting on President Thabo Mbeki to axe national police commissioner Jackie Selebi following the arrest yesterday of Glenn Agliotti, a Selebi associate, for the murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble.
Opposition parties and security analysts also called on Selebi to resign, saying his position as SA's top cop has been compromised as a result of the media reports linking him to criminals.
Institute for Security Studies senior researcher Johan Burger said Agliotti's arrest was an "excellent" time for Selebi to distance himself from the alleged criminal and his activities.
"I think the honourable thing for him to do is to at least make a public statement distancing himself from Agliotti. He can say that if these allegations are true, we may have been friends in the past, but we are no longer friends," he said.
Burger said he had known Selebi for a long time and he did not believe the police commissioner was involved in criminal activities.
Human Sciences Research Council governance expert Adam Habib said that, politically, the link between Agliotti and Selebi was "significantly embarrassing for the state". However, there was not enough information to back up calls for Selebi's resignation. For him to quit "on the basis of rumours would undermine the state".
It is said one can judge a man by the company he keeps, and if we are to use this as a yardstick, Selebi certainly has a lot more explaining to do.
However, the man who is known for his forthrightness has always defended his relationship with Agliotti. "Agliotti is my friend, finish and klaar! ... if I meet Agliotti, we are not conniving to do crime," was how Selebi fobbed off questions about his relationship to the man known as the "Landlord" in criminal circles.
Selebi was appointed police commissioner in 1999, after serving as SA's representative in Geneva.
When he took over as SA's top cop from Meyer Kahn, he was regarded as a trusted African National Congress (ANC) cadre who could be relied on to align the police services with the expectations of the ruling party.
Without a background in policing, he had to rely on his deputies to guide him in what was often hostile terrain. However, by 2004, Selebi seemed to have made an impression and was elected president of Interpol.
When the Mail & Guardian first broke the story of Selebi's alleged links to a criminal network associated with Kebble, his four deputy national police commissioners publicly declared their confidence in him.
Safety and Security Minister Charles Nqakula has so far backed Selebi. Both share the view that the Scorpions should be integrated into the South African Police Service and should be removed from the National Prosecuting Authority.
Selebi is described by ANC insiders as a "party functionary" who gets deployed to do the bidding of the "movement".
However, Selebi appears to be one of the few senior civil servants who have tried to stay clear of the succession dogfight between President Thabo Mbeki and rival Jacob Zuma.
"Selebi eats at many tables", was how an ANC member described Selebi's attitude to the succession fracas.
Even Selebi's detractors say he is not easily swayed when it comes to choosing sides in the ANC.
Since the media frenzy started, Selebi has received the support of the cabinet, but Agliotti's arrest raises questions about the appropriateness of their relationship once again.
Opposition parties have also renewed their call for his suspension.
Government communications spokesman Temba Maseko said last week: "Government wishes to express its confidence in the commissioner, noting that the allegations were investigated by the Independent Complaints Directorate and found to be baseless".
He said Nqakula was dealing with the matter and had stated his willingness to consider any new information that could be brought forward in this regard.
While the cabinet and Mbeki had personally vouched for Selebi's integrity and dismissed calls from opposition parties for a commission of inquiry into Selebi's relationship with Agliotti, Maseko did say their endorsement was "not infinite".