Friday, 25 September 2026: The South African Communist Party (SACP) calls for the immediate reinstatement of General Fannie Masemola as the National Commissioner of the South African Police Service, following the withdrawal of all the trumped-up charges proffered against him by the National Prosecuting Authority under the Public Finance Management Act on 15 September.

Following extensive reviews of Masemola’s case, the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) found that there were no reasonable prospects of a successful prosecution against Masemola on those charges and subsequently issued instructions that the charges be withdrawn. Accordingly, the SACP welcomes the findings by the NDPP and reiterates that the next logical step is his reinstatement so that he may continue with his work in service of the people of South Africa.

From the outset, the SACP saw the charges as concocted, as they reflected the hallmarks of abuse of power, and this abuse must itself be investigated and addressed. Those who charged Masemola either lacked capacity insofar as the law was concerned, which led to his charging, in which case they were incompetent and should be discharged of their duties by virtue of their incompetence, or were fully competent and aware of the law but nonetheless went ahead and participated in the abuse thereof – and thus must face the full might of the law for their intentional unlawful conduct.

The SACP remains deeply concerned with the state of the South African Police Service and the concomitant crisis of security facing the country. We remain positive that  the role played by the ongoing Madlanga Commission will yield dividends to the public. Already, the Commission has laid bare the systematic and structural crisis in the security cluster. In light of these revelations, the SACP makes the further call for a wide-ranging overhaul of the justice system beyond just the administration of the police.

It is crucial to understand that crime and corruption have reached crisis levels in our country. For many years, the people have suffered under the scourge of organised criminal networks, some of which operate with the complicity of corrupt elements within the state, which continue to dominate large sections of our nation. This and others are some of the crimes that General Masemola must pursue as soon as he retakes the reins.

While we call for the urgent reinstatement of General Masemola, we are not unalive to the limitations within our criminal justice system. This undermines the work of our police service. It is in this regard that we reiterate our call for the full resourcing and transforming of the police and criminal justice system to serve the people, with particular reinforcement in townships and rural communities, the most impacted by the incidence of crime. Additionally, forensic audits must be undertaken to expose and root out captured elements within the state, while austerity policies that cripple law enforcement must be fought against until the end. All office bearers, officials and officers in law enforcement must be held stringently accountable for failures and corruption.