Zille slams Vearey’s ANC affiliation
Western Cape premier says top cop should not be considered for promotion because he has publicly supported the ANC
|||Cape Town - Cracks in the relationship between police and the Western Cape government are becoming more apparent after a letter from Premier Helen Zille raising concerns about the possibility that a senior officer may be in line for a further promotion, was leaked this week.
In the letter Zille indicates that Major-General Jeremy Vearey, who used to be the head of the Western Cape police’s anti-gang operation and who was then appointed as deputy provincial commissioner of crime detection, should not be considered for further promotion, because he has publicly supported the ANC.
Vearey, who is reportedly in the running to become the next Western Cape provincial police commissioner, this week declined to comment on the matter.
In January Vearey found himself in hot water with police authorities after he and another policeman had a spat on Facebook. Vearey posted a message about attending the ANC’s 103rd birthday celebrations at the Cape Town Stadium and made comments about it, saying it was in full swing.
Another police officer, then commented on this and the two began to bicker online.
Vearey’s Facebook profile picture had at the time shown him in police uniform.
In February Zille sent a letter – which has since been leaked to Weekend Argus – to then-provincial police commissioner Arno Lamoer expressing concern about Vearey.
This week her spokesman, Michael Mpofu, confirmed the letter had been sent by Zille and that police had acknowledged receiving it.
“Furthermore, we stand by its contents. The letter notes that the SAPS Act is clear about police officers actively promoting their political links – in this case, the ANC,” he said.
“The premier is well within her rights to question Vearey’s political afflictions as they may present a conflict of interest in the execution of his duties. Any SAPS officer, especially top management, must be nonaligned, neutral and must ensure the safety of all citizens.”
It is not the first time Zille and Vearey have been at odds.
Seven years ago the two quarrelled over policing in Mitchells Plain.
In September 2007 Zille, who was then Cape Town mayor, marched to the Mitchells Plain police station with others to demand the release of an anti-drug campaign leader.
She and Vearey, then the director of the Mitchells Plain police, had a heated exchanged when she asked why the campaign leader was being detained and Zille was arrested.
The ANC had then distanced itself from Zille’s arrest, which had been reportedly on Vearey’s orders.
Over the years friction between police and the province has flared and it peaked again a week ago when the Police Ministry held a policing imbizo in Khayelitsha.
The city labelled the event an ANC rally and said it was illegal because the police had not been given approval to hold it.
Last week Zille, in a news-letter, questioned whether the national police were working to make policing fail in the Western Cape.
She also mooted the possibility that politicians, top police and gangsters were working together to disrupt the province.
Elaborating on Zille’s newsletter, safety and security mayoral committee member JP Smith alleged it appeared Vearey was working with ANC provincial chairman Marius Fransman and top gangsters.
In her letter to Lamoer in February, Zille said she was seriously concerned about Vearey’s possible appointment to a more senior position.
“I do not believe it is appropriate to promote Major-General Vearey to the post of deputy provincial commissioner, albeit in an acting capacity, considering his previous infringements of the law, which we raised with you in writing…
“As you know Major-General Vearey has, among other things, already publicly associated himself with a political party and when this was pointed out to him on one occasion he refused to acknowledge the unsuitability of his actions, not only in terms of the SAPS Act, but also because to the very real danger of bias, both real and perceived, which his various well publicised political association statements create,” she wrote.
Zille said Vearey’s “personal freedom of political association” was not a concern to her.
But it was when he chose to support a party as a police member.
Weekend Argus
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