Fraud claims surrounding the leasing of the R1.67billion police headquarters in Pretoria – enquiry into role of suspended SAPS commissioner Bheki Cele
March 6 20-12
THE first day of the Bheki Cele inquiry heard that the controversial R1.67-billion police headquarters deal was fast-tracked “on assumption rather than instructions”. SAPS genl Hamilton Hlela – who claims that he was forced to resign by Cele -- gave testimony yesterday as a star-witness to back up Public Protector Mrs Thuli Madonsela's damning reports into these lease deals. Her investigation led to President Jacob Zuma suspending the SA police commissioner Cele in October last year and the establishing the current board of inquiry.
Yesterday, Hlela testified. The enquiry is chaired by judge Jake Moloi at the Pretoria Council Chambers in Pretoria, that Hlela ‘had made certain procurement decisions regarding the lease deals involving the Middestad building in Pretoria and the Transnet building in Durban -- “on the assumption that Cele wanted those specific buildings: allegedly Hlela had earlier claimed that “Cele had identified the "Middestad" building, introduced him to "property mogul" Roux Shabangu and instructed him to “fast-track the procurement of the buildings.” However yesterday’s testimony revealed that ‘Cele did not specifically mention the Middestad building as the preferred building to house the police top brass, nor did he instruct him to pursue a negotiated form of procurement which led to the buildings being leased at inflated rates. Instead, Cele had mentioned that ‘a building in central Pretoria had two floors which could be leased’. Genl. Hlela resigned from the police in 2010: claiming he had been forced to do so by Cele.
http://www.sowetanlive.co.za/news/2012/03/06/cele-gave-no-instructions-on-lease
http://censorbugbear-reports.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2012-03-09T13:33:00%2B01:00&max-results=20&start=6&by-date=false
