News24 reports that the Western Cape will remain without a police commissioner for the foreseeable future after national commissioner Khehla Sitole ordered that the advert for the vacancy be withdrawn and be re-advertised.
The vacancy had been advertised on 19 March 2019. No reason was given for the withdrawal. But, Major General Jeremy Vearey, the province's head of detectives and a favourite to take over as the provincial commissioner after the transfer of Khombinkosi Jula to KwaZulu-Natal, had lodged an official complaint with Sitole after he failed to make the shortlist for the job. According to his letter, he apparently had not made the cut because he had not included proof of his qualifications, which he disputed. Vearey is a former Umkhonto we Sizwe operative and ex-bodyguard of president Nelson Mandela. In September, ANC provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs slammed the decision to exclude Vearey from the shortlisted candidates, claiming there was a "third force" influencing the selection criteria. Meantime, Community Safety MEC Albert Fritz said it was alarming that a process, which was followed in line with the Constitution and related legislation, was now being restarted. He said the Western Cape could not afford to "wait a moment longer" for the appointment and that he would be urgently seeking advice on the legality of restarting the process.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Tammy Petersen at News24
- Read too, Vacancy for Western Cape top cop withdrawn, re-advertised, at Cape Argus
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