Please see English and Afrikaans soundbites by Lisa Schickerling MP, in isiZulu by Mzamo Billy MP, and in Sesotho by Karabo Khakhau MP.
The DA calls on the Police’s Acting Minister Firoz Cachalia to urgently intervene in the management crisis at the Private Security Industry Regulatory Authority (PSIRA) – at the centre of a R130-million SIU and Hawks investigation.
The PSIRA is currently without its critical oversight body (its Council) and the incumbent CEO is running the Authority without oversight.
The PSIRA is currently under investigation and was raided this week by the SIU and the Hawks. This is a serious investigation involving approximately R130 million in taxpayer funds and raises significant questions about accountability, governance and the management of public money.
The people of South Africa are being fleeced by an unaccountable, out of control PSIRA that is meant to be ensuring the Private Security industry is regulated.
Now is the time for Acting Minister Cachalia to act:
– Appoint a Council without delay, with all prospective members properly vetted, so that PSIRA is subject to oversight,
– Clarify the role of the CEO as the acting-Accounting Authority, while PSIRA is under criminal investigation,
– Initiate the process to place the CEO and CFO on precautionary suspension.
While the SIU and Hawks investigate PSIRA, there is a clear and certain risk that individuals may interfere with evidence or the investigation.
For a Special Tribunal warrant to have been issued against PSIRA is a significant development, and we are greatly concerned that the SIU has reported that PSIRA only partially complied with requests for documentation, with investigators saying that a year’s worth of records necessary for the investigation was omitted.
A search-and-seizure operation should never be necessary simply to obtain records that a public entity is required to keep and make available to investigators.
The investigation must now follow the evidence wherever it leads. If evidence of criminal conduct is uncovered, those responsible must face the appropriate criminal process. If public money was unlawfully or improperly spent, every possible avenue must be pursued to recover it.
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