[imagesource: YouTube / News24]
Police Minister Bheki Cele, who I assume would be dubbed ‘Twat in a Hat’ by Dr Seuss were he still alive, has had a shocker this week.
In case you missed his impudent (or perhaps impotent?) meltdown on Tuesday, let us cover the basics.
Cele was attending a community policing engagement in Gugulethu when he was confronted by the director of community safety, Ian Cameron from lobby group Action Society.
The meeting, between police and residents from the Nyanga and Gugulethu communities, was supposed to be centred around residents’ concerns regarding crime and SAPS deployment.
Cameron accused Cele of failing miserably in his ministerial duties to protect residents. You know, the actual job of a police minister, rather than turning up across the country to offer empty platitudes to bereaved citizens while wearing a silly hat.
What followed was a meltdown of epic proportions, captured by eNCA:
There was a tense exchange as Police Minister, Bheki Cele, met Gugulethu residents today. Action Society accused him of neglecting the Western Cape. The group wants policing devolved to the province. #DStv403 pic.twitter.com/TKwp2L6n2C
— eNCA (@eNCA) July 5, 2022
The screaming of ‘shuuuut uuuuup’ and talk of being regarded as a ‘garden boy’ from the one-minute mark is so obviously transparent, with the minister resorting to faux outrage to try and rally the crowd around him because he knows he’s failing dismally at his job.
As the clip of Cele ranting went viral, some came to his defence and argued that Cameron must have been disrespectful.
However, it wasn’t too long before another clip, showing what Cameron said in the lead-up to Cele’s rant, appeared on social media:
So this is what raised Bheki Cele’s high blood pressure 🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/HC0jcG87mC
— Ankole Farmer (@ShadowRau) July 6, 2022
Well said on so many fronts.
Following the altercation, Action Society has said it will lodge a complaint with the Public Protector in terms of the Executive Members’ Ethics Bill and its Code of Conduct, reports News24:
The organisation said Cele failed to act in good faith and compromised the credibility and integrity of his office.
Action Society also intends to submit a complaint with Parliament’s Office of the Registrar of Members’ Interests.
We break briefly for this gem:
Die Son is a national treasure. #BhekiCele pic.twitter.com/7ytTXJburC
— Graeme Raubenheimer (@GraemeRauby) July 6, 2022
BizNews sat down with Cameron for a lengthy interview yesterday. Here are some quotes from that exchange:
I was astounded when Minister Cele showed up with a six vehicle motorcade with bodyguards. I’m sorry, but it just feels very unfair and arrogant, especially in a community like that where people really don’t have any form of real protection…
I think [Cele’s] unfit to be the minister. He failed as national commissioner as well. He was appointed just because of being politically connected, not because of experience. I find it laughable that some people still call him general. But he is not a career cop. He has got no qualification whatsoever…
We have a minister that would like to keep on quoting historical credentials while people are being killed at this rate. And that’s why I refused to make it a race or culture discussion. I go to these places daily. I see what happens to people. And I think we need to call it out.
We have, and we do, but the longer President Cyril Ramaphosa’s time at the helm continues, the more apparent it becomes that he will not remove certain ministers, no matter how dire their performance, because it would threaten his leadership of the ANC.
We are not led.
