Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

3-minute read
04 August 2023 | 15:30 CAT

Image: Radio Islam International

There is widespread outrage after it emerged that a top police official, Major-General Feroz Khan, was one of the high-profile guests at a gala dinner held in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the EFF. A massive rally at the FNB stadium followed the gala dinner.

Public Interest South Africa (PISA) has described the attendance of the second-in-command of SAPS Crime Intelligence at the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) lavish gala dinner as shameful and a slap in the face of South Africans grappling with widespread crime.

“Although the provisions of the South African Police Services Act may not preclude Khan from association or attending political parties or any other gatherings in his personal capacity, it does not reflect well in building public trust,” PISA chairperson Tebogo Khaas said in a statement.

“We find the political fraternisation of Khan, the second-in-command of Crime Intelligence at the SAPS, with confessed criminals and political leaders currently under scrutiny by the criminal justice system, to be undesirable, shameful, offensive to, and a slap in the face of South Africans who are grappling with widespread crime,” he added.

News24 reported that Khan had shared a table with confessed tobacco smuggler Adriano Mazzotti.

Khan said that he had attended the dinner for “work”. News24 has confirmed that Mazzotti’s business partner and Khan’s close friend Mohammadh Sayed bought his ticket.

According to Khaas, a recent ruling by the SCA confirming financial ties between Julius Malema, leader of the EFF, and the corruption at the now-defunct VBS bank, this association is a painful reminder for the victims of VBS corruption of the rampant impunity of powerful politicians, business people, BEE askaris and tenderpreneurs.

While there may not be apparent legal violations by Major-General Khan, Public Interest SA urgently requests national police commissioner Masemola to initiate an internal investigation into Khan’s actions and proximity to those in the crosshairs of the criminal justice system.

Listen to the full interview on Your World Today with Mufti Yusuf Moosagie.