Bejani Chauke, former special adviser to President Cyril Ramaphosa, has denied soliciting private investigator Paul O’Sullivan’s advice on the appointment of a national police commissioner in 2022.
This comes after O’Sullivan told MPs during his testimony before parliament’s ad hoc committee on Wednesday that Chauke had sought his advice during the appointment process.
“I was approached by Bejani Chauke. I have to tell the truth, because I [had] sworn to tell the truth, and I don’t think I could say anything different to that. I was approached by Bejani Chauke, who, at the time, was a special adviser to President Ramaphosa and he informed me that they were looking at appointing a permanent appointee. This was now after Khehla Sitole had been relieved of his duty.
“And they asked for informal advice. I asked, ‘well, could you give me the names of the people?’ Which they did. I said, ‘we will carry out a lifestyle audit of these people’, which we [Forensic for Justice] did.”
O’Sullivan said they carried out a lifestyle audit and then sent a report to Chauke.
However, Chauke said that in his role as special adviser to the president, he received both solicited and unsolicited advice from third parties, which he described as a normal part of his official duties.
“Mr O’Sullivan was one of the people who approached me, almost to the point of stalking and harassing me, to influence, as though I could, the process in favour of a candidate he or his ‘community’ wanted,” he said.
“On matters such as the president’s upcoming appointments or the search for suitable candidates, I would receive a barrage of suggestions. These would include reasoned submissions that people hoped would influence the president’s decisions.”
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He said it was publicly known that a shortlist had been compiled after the vacancy in the position of national police commissioner.
He said that in O’Sullivan’s submissions before the hearing, he intimated that most of the candidates on the shortlist were corrupt and therefore compromised.
“I did not solicit Mr O’Sullivan’s involvement. I challenged his blanket accusation that all candidates were corrupt,” Chauke said.
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“Only two candidates were, according to him, fit for the position. One of those he proposed was not even on the shortlist.”
Chauke said the process to appoint the national police commissioner was transparent and proper, as confirmed by the panel that reviewed the candidates, which he said should reassure South Africans of its integrity.
He added that it was not unusual for him to receive third-party advice on matters the president was required to consider.
“It was part of my job,” he said.
Sowetan
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