Police are paying “serious attention” to claims by a whistleblower about an alleged assassination plot against Public Protector Thuli Madonsela.
The plot‚ revealed to Madonsela by a police informant who she knows‚ involved the payment of R740‚000 to a prominent Western Cape gang leader to arrange a hit‚ reported the Sunday Times.
Acting national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane was consulting various role players‚ including the office of the Public Protector‚ about the threat on Monday‚ said police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi.
“The matter is receiving serious attention and therefore we request that the Acting National Commissioner be given space to ascertain himself with the claims (which were foreign to him)‚” he said.
Phahlane was not aware of the threat‚ which should have been reported to him‚ when he was initially contacted by the Sunday Times. “This is foreign to me. I was never briefed‚” he said.
Madonsela said that she received a text message on April 1 from a whistleblower who she had worked with before. It read: “Morning. Please be careful. A top gangster by the name of ... was paid to get hitmen to kill you. I will inform (Western Cape safety and security) MEC Dan Plato today about my information.”
She alerted the police VIP Protection Unit and was contacted by a crime intelligence official from the Western Cape who downplayed the threat.
Mulaudzi said the acting police commissioner would decide in due course what steps to take in response to the threat.
Thuli Madonsela hit claims being taken seriously
The plot‚ revealed to Madonsela by a police informant who she knows‚ involved the payment of R740‚000 to a prominent Western Cape gang leader to arrange a hit‚ reported the Sunday Times.
Acting national police commissioner Lieutenant-General Khomotso Phahlane was consulting various role players‚ including the office of the Public Protector‚ about the threat on Monday‚ said police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi.
“The matter is receiving serious attention and therefore we request that the Acting National Commissioner be given space to ascertain himself with the claims (which were foreign to him)‚” he said.
Phahlane was not aware of the threat‚ which should have been reported to him‚ when he was initially contacted by the Sunday Times. “This is foreign to me. I was never briefed‚” he said.
Madonsela said that she received a text message on April 1 from a whistleblower who she had worked with before. It read: “Morning. Please be careful. A top gangster by the name of ... was paid to get hitmen to kill you. I will inform (Western Cape safety and security) MEC Dan Plato today about my information.”
She alerted the police VIP Protection Unit and was contacted by a crime intelligence official from the Western Cape who downplayed the threat.
Mulaudzi said the acting police commissioner would decide in due course what steps to take in response to the threat.
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