Acting police minister Firoz Cachalia on Thursday confirmed that top cop Gen Fannie Masemola will be charged with transgressing the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA) when he appears in court on April 21.
“Masemola has been charged. The charges are under section 38 of the PFMA so that concerns the standards that an accounting officer must meet in dealing, for instance, with procurement decisions. General Masemola has not been charged with corruption,” Cachalia said in an interview with eNCA.
“He has been charged under procurement legislation, which is serious enough. A decision still has to be made about how we should respond to the fact that he has been charged,” the acting minister said.
As commissioner of police, Masemola is the key accounting officer and it is his duty to ensure the maintenance of sound financial and risk management as well as the monitoring of internal controls.
The state will contend this was not done in the R360m tender the South African Police Service awarded to murder and corruption accused Vusi “Cat” Matlala’s Medicare24 company.
Of greater interest would be the prosecution of an accounting officer for transgressions by his subordinates.
The National Prosecuting Authority has been focusing on prosecuting government officials on PFMA breaches, but the Masemola case could be a precedent-setting prosecution of the highest public service official to be prosecuted for section 38 of the act.
Twelve senior police personnel were arrested and appeared in court with Matlala on Wednesday on issues regarding the tender.
All were granted bail except for Matlala. Masemola, though, was not arrested with the others, raising the question whether he was getting preferential treatment.
He was instead served with a summons on Wednesday to appear in court.
Legal experts on Thursday said the decision not to arrest him was legally sound.
Independent policing expert Johan Burger, in an interview with Business Day, described the decision by the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) as responsible and legally above board.
“The purpose of arrest largely is to ensure someone appears in court. There is no reason why the national commissioner would not appear in court if he is summonsed to appear in court,” he said.
“This is the responsible approach to take. It is fitting his appearance in court is arranged through summons and not arrest.”
The Criminal Procedure Act allows for a summons to be issued for court appearances.
Burger said the PFMA is important legislation in dealing with financial and oversight controls in state institutions.
“The PFMA is important legislation when there are indications that one has neglected to apply themselves in terms of the PFMA. It is not regarded in the same light as a corruption charge.”
University of Pretoria law lecturer Llewelyn Curlewis said Idac was correct in not arresting Masemola.
“In … South Africa we kind of abuse the system of arrest because we seem to think the person is guilty long before he has been found guilty,” he said.
Curlewis said the likelihood of Masemola absconding or evading trial is almost zero.
“I can technically understand there is no need for anyone to arrest him. There is nothing wrong with him being summonsed.
“You can be summonsed for the most serious offences. There is no need to arrest him. It would be an unnecessary waste of resources to keep him in custody. It is unnecessary.”
In testimony at the Madlanga commission, Masemola said he received a call from the Idac alerting him to irregularities before the tender was awarded to Matlala’s company in 2024.
Masemola said when he requested a check it was reported to him that the procurement process complied with the law at the time.
“Before the relevant committees awarded the tender to him [Matlala], I did get a call from the Idac to say it looks like there is a problem around the awarding of this contract. At that point, one did check whether there was compliance to prescripts and one found that no, it is [compliant],” Masemola said.
After the contract was awarded to Matlala, it was cancelled in May 2025.
Idac handles the investigation against Masemola.
KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in his testimony at the Madlanga commission alleged certain people at Idac were being used to fight factional battles in the police. Idac boss Andrea Johnson denied the allegations in parliament.
Though not charged with corruption, a senior Idac official told Business Day that the case against Masemola is serious.
“The PFMA is the cornerstone of the government’s work. The summons was issued months ago. We must have consistency in the application of the law. We are just trying to do our job,” the source said.
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