Police staying silent after Mdluli ruling

2012-06-06 22:27

Johannesburg - The police were not commenting on Wednesday night on the interdict preventing former crime intelligence boss Richard Mdluli carrying out police duties, a spokesperson said.

"The police are not in a rush to comment on General Mdluli," spokesperson Brigadier Lindela Mashigo said.

"We had no reaction at court and we have no reaction now. We will wait for the matter to be heard in the Labour Court, but until then the matter remains sub judice."

On Wednesday, Judge Ephraim Makgoba granted an urgent interim interdict to Freedom Under Law (FUL) in terms of which the national police commissioner and minister of police were prevented from assigning any duty to Mdluli.

This was pending the determination of FUL's application to set aside decisions to withdraw criminal charges and disciplinary proceedings against Mdluli.

The criminal charges range from murder and defeating the ends of justice to fraud, corruption and money laundering.

The matter will be back in the Labour Court on June 21.

Democratic Alliance spokesperson Dianne Kohler Barnard said the interdict was good for all South Africans.

"The interdict... preventing controversial spy cop Richard Mdluli from performing any police duties, pending the outcome of a judicial review, is a victory for all South Africans," she said in a statement.

Lobby group AfriForum also welcomed the ruling.

"The organisation regards the ruling to be a victory for the supremacy of the law," spokesperson Nantes Kelder said in a statement.

Kohler-Barnard said the judgment ensured that both the public interest and the rule of law reigned supreme.

"The DA concurs with the court that the allegations of fraud, murder and theft levelled against Mdluli are not 'normal allegations' and that they erode trust in the SA Police Service."

She said the DA agreed that it was of public importance that the matter be dealt with speedily to restore confidence in the police and criminal justice system.

"The South African public has for the better part of a year been faced with continuous revelations of how the alleged conduct of Mdluli and the reported involvement of senior politicians have damaged a number of key state institutions within the criminal justice system," she said.

Kelder said it was regrettable that political interference in the case had made court action necessary to ensure that the supremacy of the law was upheld.

Mdluli was suspended for the first time in November as a result of the criminal charges, but was reinstated in March after the charges and disciplinary proceedings were withdrawn.

Mdluli then made allegations of conspiracy against other senior members of the police, resulting in the minister of police announcing in Parliament that he would be re-deployed pending investigations into the allegations by a ministerial task team.

Acting national police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi then suspended Mdluli again.

Mdluli obtained an order for his reinstatement in the Labour Court in Johannesburg on Friday, but the same court overturned the decision on Sunday.

- SAPA