Francinah Vuma. Photo: Supplied
Suspended deputy police commissioner Francinah Vuma says nothing will prevent her from returning to her post tomorrow.
City Press has learnt from two police sources that Vuma, police commissioner Fannie Masemola and the head of legal services for the SA Police Services (SAPS) Simo Chamane attended a meeting on Thursday, when the outcomes of the arbitration process were discussed.
“Vuma told Masemola that, in line with the arbitration process, she was ready to report for duty. However, Masemola told her not to set foot in any of the police buildings, saying he was still studying the arbitration ruling,” a source said.
National police commissioner Fannie Masemola Photo: MARIETIE LOUW-CARSTENS
In a letter sent to Masemola by Vuma’s lawyer on Thursday, Advocate Makgetsi Mphahlele wrote:
We refer to the meeting you held with our client, Lieutenant General FN Vuma, today. In that meeting, you allegedly informed our client that in terms of Safety and Security Sectoral Bargaining Council [SSSBC] rules, the SAPS has 10 days to study the arbitration ruling. There is no provision in terms of SSSBC rules or its constitution that the SAPS has 10 days to study the arbitration ruling.
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Mphahlele reminded Masemola that the police service had waived its right to discipline Vuma for not cooperating with the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) which was probing allegations of fraud and corruption. These stemmed from the foiled plan to acquire cellphone interception devices at an inflated price.
“The arbitrator [Johnny Mathebula of the SSSBC] has ruled [on Thursday] that the SAPS has waived its right to discipline our client. Our client is currently not facing any allegations of misconduct. She will report for duty on June 19 2023. Our client’s rights remain fully reserved,” the letter read.
Vuma was suspended in July last year following the Pretoria High Court ruling that she, former national police commissioner Khehla Sitole and his deputy, Jacob Tsumane, had “breached their duties” by not handing over or declassifying documents for Ipid to investigate allegations of fraud and corruption.
However, Mathebula found that the SAPS had failed to discipline Vuma timeously and had accordingly waived the right to do so
Vuma had approached the bargaining council, requesting it to make a finding on her dispute with her employer over misconduct allegations emanating from the ruling which emerged from the court judgment.
Vuma’s lawyers raised two independent preliminary points. The first was that the police service had unreasonably delayed in instituting a disciplinary inquiry against her, which was only being instituted five years after the dates of the alleged acts/omissions. The second was that, by its conduct, the SAPS had effectively waived its right to discipline Vuma.
The police argued that the charges emanated from the court judgment and had nothing to do with unsustainable underlying factors.
Vuma’s lawyers further argued that the SAPS had taken no action against Vuma and had no intention of doing so. Instead, she had been advised on how to handle the Ipid issue and was promoted in 2020 to an even higher position.
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In July last year, Vuma wrote a protected disclosure to President Cyril Ramaphosa and head of the Hawks General Godfrey Lebeya, making detailed allegations of corruption, defeating the ends of justice and political interference within the SAPS.
In the 12-page letter dated July 6, Vuma wrote that there had been attempts to have her removed from her position by some of her colleagues. People from outside the police service had also tried to “obstruct certain investigations against [Masemola’s colleagues], his seniors and his acquaintances”.
Vuma, who is responsible for asset management in the SAPS, wrote that she had rebuffed several attempts by her seniors to sway certain contracts in order to benefit certain companies.
She wrote:
I was accused by the minister of police of having approved and awarded a bigger part of the contract to MTN at the behest of the deputy minister, who he said was poised to fund the EFF
Vuma listed at least 12 investigations, worth more than R3 billion, which she was probing, including Police Minister Bheki Cele’s spending while on a trip to Turkey.
According to Vuma, she wrote the protected disclosure to Ramaphosa and law enforcement agency heads in order “not to be subjected to any occupational detriment by the police because of the issues related to politically connected persons who held high ranks within government structures”.