Key figure tasked with compiling a report on Bheki Cele robbed at gunpoint.
|||A key figure tasked with compiling a report that will be used to decide the future of suspended national police Commissioner General Bheki Cele has been robbed and laptops containing information about the inquiry were stolen.
Anthea Patt, an advocate who sat on the board of inquiry as one of the two commissioners, was confronted at home on Friday by three men carrying R5 rifles and pistols.
The inquiry is tasked with compiling a report that will decide whether Cele is fit for office or whether his conduct in the police lease scandal amounted to corruption.
The suspects took an LCD television, six laptops, six cellphones, vehicle keys and jewellery before fleeing in a silver Mercedes-Benz.
The incident has provoked contrasting comments, with the police maintaining they were investigating, while a spokesperson for the inquiry, Bongiwe Gambu, said the suspects “were armed with R5 assault rifles, the same type reported to have been stolen from a safe at the Waterkloof Airforce Base’’.
“The stolen rifles belong to the VIP Protection Unit tasked with protecting President Jacob Zuma,” she said.
But the police distanced themselves from the allegations about the origins of the suspects’ firearms.
Gauteng provincial police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Tshisikhawe Ndou said: “The police would like to clarify that there is no evidence to support the fact that firearms used by the suspects during the robbery are those or similar to those (stolen) at Waterkloof Airforce Base…”
The police say Patt, her family members and visitors were ordered to lie on the ground when the robbers got into the house through the back door.
Ndou said no one was harmed.
Patt referred all questions to Gambu.
Gambu said: “There are many questions that remain unanswered because the armed men knew exactly what they were looking for. They chose only laptops and keys.”
Gambu added that Patt and her family were now living in fear.
“It was discovered that the men had returned and had attempted to break into the house but were unsuccessful. We are concerned about this and we will take the necessary steps to ensure that members of the board are safe and that they continue to do their work without fear,” said Gambu.
Ndou said the police were investigating.
Since the beginning of the month board members have been going through thousands of pages of documents submitted, including testimonies, transcripts and arguments from both sides, as well as public submissions.
The board was established by Zuma in November to investigate Cele’s fitness to hold office and allegations of misconduct relating to the two leases for police accommodation.
The board is currently preparing a report to be submitted to Zuma, Cele, Parliament, the National Council of Provinces and cabinet committees in charge of safety and security affairs. - Sunday Independent