Inside Politics Reporter
Democratic Alliance MP Dianne Kohler Barnard has accused senior police figures of targeting independent watchdogs after President Cyril Ramaphosa this week suspended the Inspector-General of Intelligence (IGI), Imtiaz Fazel.
Kohler Barnard said that oversight bodies probing National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola, and KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, were being systematically “attacked” and “discredited”.
Ramaphosa’s office confirmed on Thursday that Fazel had been suspended pending a parliamentary investigation by the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI) into “complaints about his conduct”.
The decision comes amid ongoing investigations into corruption and political interference in the country’s policing and intelligence agencies.
The Madlanga Commission and a parliamentary ad hoc committee are both investigating claims that criminal networks and political interests have captured law-enforcement institutions.
Kohler Barnard said the timing of Fazel’s suspension “raises serious and alarming questions”.
“Every credible person or entity such as IDAC (Investigating Directorate Against Corruption),
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