A TOP-RANKING police officer fears for her life as she claims some people, including Minister Bheki Cele, want her killed.
Deputy national commissioner of asset and legal management Lieutenant-General Francinah Vuma has written to President Cyril Ramaphosa and Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya, to tell them that her life is at stake because of her investigations into corruption involving top officials.
“I was informed by Brigadier Mathebula that the minister held meetings with Lieutenant-General Mgwenya and others, where they hatched plans to falsely implicate me in non-existent PPE corruption, which they realised they were not winning and wanted me to get killed,” she said.
Vuma said in a letter, in possession of Daily Sun, that in 2020, Lieutenant-General Peter Jacobs and Cele bought interception equipment worth R120 million without permission from the departments of justice and state security.
She said she instituted an investigation against those involved, as well as on Cele for his unauthorised expenditure during his trip to Dubai.
Vuma said this led to attempts to suspend or transfer her because there was “pressure from the top” to have her disciplined or removed from SAPS.
She said on 30 June, she was summoned to the office of national commissioner General Fannie Masemola, where he told her that he was under pressure to suspend her.
She claimed she was summoned again on 1 July, and served with written notice to suspend or temporary transfer her.
“I want to state that with the way matters are going, I am scared for my life and livelihood as both are being threatened because I have taken it upon myself not to be influenced in my decisions and to stand on principle,” said Vuma.
She was previously, along with former national police commissioner Khehla Sitole and Lebeoana Tsumane, found guilty by the North Gauteng High Court in the so-called “Nasrec grabber” case.
It was related to the scandal involving Crime Intelligence’s allegedly unlawful attempt at procuring a surveillance device, known as a grabber, for the heavily inflated price of R45 million (the regular price is R7 million) before the ANC’s elective conference at Nasrec in 2017.
Contacted for comment, police spokeswoman Colonel Athlenda Mathe said: “The correspondence referred to was not addressed to the media. As such, the SAPS is not at liberty to discuss the contents with third parties.”
Vuma said she had become a target because she refused numerous attempts from senior officials to sway contracts to favour certain companies.
“Therefore, it is clear that because of my investigations and refusals, I’m being dealt with to ensure that I know my place,” she added.
