JOHANNESBURG: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has lifted the suspension of the country’s national police chief, Fannie Masemola, his office announced on Friday.
Masemola is expected to resume his duties on Monday after he was suspended in April when he was charged with breaking finance laws related to an allegedly corrupt police contract.
He was charged alongside other senior officers who are suspected of fraud, corruption and money laundering in connection with the contract, but those charges were dropped by the country’s National Prosecuting Authority in September this year.
It is alleged that some of the officers received bribes from the $21 million contract’s winning bidder. The contract was for providing health and well-being services to police officers.
“President Ramaphosa welcomes the National Police Commissioner on his return to his full duties and expresses his appreciation to Lt. General Puleng Dimpane who served with distinction as Acting National Police Commissioner in the interim,” Ramaphosa said in a statement on Friday.
Masemola’s suspension came as the country’s criminal justice system faced scrutiny at a judicial commission of inquiry chaired by retired Judge Mbuyiseli Madlanga, where wide-ranging allegations of corruption within the police have been made.
His return to office comes in the same week that his former deputy police chief, Shadrack Sibiya, resigned from the police service amid allegations of corruption and sexual offense charges that he faces.
He is accused of raping an 18-year-old woman and sexually grooming a minor. There are also allegations made at the commission of inquiry that he has links to alleged members of criminal networks in the country.
He is currently in prison and a judgment on whether he should be released on bail has been postponed until next week.
Sibiya denies the allegations.