The invisible blue line

[Danone]( [Mail & Guardian Newsletter logo](#) [mg.co.za]( [The Ampersand Daily Newsletter from the M&G team](#) [Divider Strip] October 14 2020 | [View in browser]( [Divider Strip] [Facebook icon]( [Twitter icon]( [Instagram icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( Hi there, Little else leaves as bad a taste in the mouth as a betrayal by those who are meant to uphold the law. Given their behaviour in the past, we should be used to that flavour. This week we've had reports of two senior cops accused of acting against the principles they have sworn to defend. First off, Khaya Koko reports that Mpumalanga top cop Lieutenant General Bethuel Mondli Zuma is embroiled in [an alleged cover-up of an accident]( involving a state-owned vehicle. Zuma was involved in a car crash on a Sunday in June while driving between the towns of Amsterdam and Piet Retief. Having caused damage to the BMW X5 he was driving, which will cost the state R181 863.10 to repair, the top cop allegedly looked to cover up the incident by blaming a fall guy. Brigadier Vish Naidoo, the South African Police Service (SAPS) spokesperson, said the accident is being investigated. An M&G source said Zuma should face the same fate as Lieutenant General Dumisa Magadlela, who is facing charges of fraud, forgery and defeating the ends of justice for allegedly spending R9 000 using a police petrol card to fill a SAPS Nissan Pathfinder for a personal trip to the Eastern Cape. In the second report by Koko, the [South African Police Union wants decisive action]( from national police commissioner General Khehla Sitole after his deputy was arrested in connection with the "blue lights" tender valued at R191-million. Lieutenant General Bonang Mgwenya is alleged to have received a number of gifts, including payments towards her BMW X5, for her role in pushing through a lucrative tender to fit 1 550 vehicles with equipment such as sirens, lights and radios. This sort of behaviour isn't novel. In August, former SAPS national commissioner Khomotso Phahlane [lost a labour court bid to challenge his dismissal](. Phahlane, who faces charges relating to procurement fraud totalling R84-million linked to the "blue lights tender" for Gauteng police vehicles, was fired from the force on 30 July. He was found guilty in an internal disciplinary hearing of "elements of dishonesty, which justify a sanction of dismissal". But wait, there's more. An official of the Rail Safety Regulator (RSR) illegally obtained our own Athandiwe Saba's private cellphone records after she investigated the organisation's now-suspended chief executive for corruption. Documents show that someone in the RSR wanted to know to whom Saba was speaking so they could trace whistle-blowers in the organisation. The records were obtained with a police subpoena claiming that she was a [suspect in a housebreaking and theft case](. And who could forget Captain KGB? Morris "KGB" Tshabalala has at least two criminal convictions - for armed robbery, masterminding a cash-in-transit heist and attempted murder - [but was able to work for crime intelligence]( and get the highest clearance in the police service. The police are supposed to enforce the rule of law. That thin blue line is supposed to be what separates us from anarchy. But it's gotten so thin it can be hard to tell if it's still there. Yours in solidarity, Kiri Rupiah & Luke Feltham [Divider Strip] [UJ]( [Divider Strip] [MG public servants]( [Divider Strip] [Facebook icon]( [Twitter icon]( [Instagram icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( You are receiving this email on {EMAIL} because 1.) You're a member of "Mail & Guardian" or 2.) previously subscribed [M&G logo] 25 Owl St, Braamfontein Werf, Johannesburg, 2092 Want to be removed? No problem! [UNSUBSCRIBE]( Email support: help@media-connect.co.za - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -