SAPS’ Chief Financial Officer (CFO), Lieutenant-General Puleng Dimpane, has been appointed as the acting national police commissioner.
Image: Phando Jikelo / RSA Parliament
Major General Puleng Dimpane is the latest high-ranking SAPS official to take up an acting position, she was announced as the acting National Police Commissioner following the precautionary suspension of General Fannie Masemola.
The announcement was made by President Cyril Ramaphosa during a specially arranged press-briefing session on Thursday.
Masemola was cast to sidelines on a precautionary suspension after he appeared in court earlier this week on four counts linked to alleged violations of the Public Finance Management Act.
Police Minister Senzo Mchunu suffered a similar fate in July 2025, due to allegations that he had links to organised crime groups in country.
Law professor Firoz Cachalia was appointed as interim police minister.
Mchunu's suspension was triggered by allegations made by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, who accused the minister of protecting criminal syndicates and drug cartels, and instructing the disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).
This gave rise to the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into Criminality, Political Interference, and Corruption in the Criminal Justice System, better known as the Madlanga Commission
Ramaphosa said that any formal action or decision regarding the future of Mchunu will have to wait until the Madlanga Commission delivered its final findings.
He also stated that he cannot use his constitutional authority to dismiss Mchunu without a proper investigation and verified facts, adding that acting on untested allegations would be unfair.
While Mchunu previously claimed the president concurred with the PKTT's disbandment, Ramaphosa denied any such consultation or approval in his written submission to the Parliament Ad Hoc Committee.
Political analyst Professor Sipho Seepe said Ramaphosa was consistent when it came to letting processes run their course, adding that this allows him to do nothing and let the outcomes of the processes dictate measures that need to be taken.
“This modus operandi is playing itself out in both the case of Mchunu and the matter relating to the Phala Phala scandal. Minister Mchunu's fate will be decided by the Madlanga Commission.
"President Ramaphosa’s submission to the Ad Hoc Committee of Parliament investigating criminality and political interference in the criminal justice system arguably sealed Minister Mchunu's fate.
In his response, President Ramaphosa contradicted Minister Mchunu’s version regarding the disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team,” Seepe said.
Another political analyst, Zakhele Ndlovu, said Ramaphosa was clearly buying time to protect his close ally, arguing that Mchunu has been shown to have disbanded the PKTT without consultation.
“This puts the president in a compromising position. When will Ramaphosa appear before the Madlanga Commission to clarify when he became aware of the disbandment and what actions he took?” he asked.
Ndlovu believes the president needs to explain why he did not take action against Mchunu after he found out about the disbandment of the PKTT.
“Clearly, if Mkhwanazi had not held the July press briefing, we wouldn't have known about Mchunu's transgressions. Why wait for the final report and waste taxpayers' money?”
Masemola's suspension and subsequent appearance in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court is linked to the irregular awarding of a multimillion-rand SAPS health services tender to Medicare24, a company associated with alleged criminal figure Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala.
His replacement (Dimpane) served as Divisional Commissioner for Financial Management Service.
ActionSA said that while Masemola’s suspension was widely expected, given the seriousness of the allegations against him, South Africans cannot be expected to accept a cycle of acting appointments.
“The continued reliance on 'acting' appointments in critical positions such as the Minister of Police and the National Commissioner undermines stability within SAPS,” said the party’s MP, Dereleen James.
James said that although ActionSA supports decisive action to protect the integrity of the SAPS, these repeated reactive interventions point to a deeper failure of leadership and oversight.
She added that Ramaphosa allowed a situation to develop where allegations of criminality and misconduct at the highest levels of government and law enforcement have become commonplace.
The DA said Masemola’s suspension is a necessary step to protect the integrity of the office and to ensure that the SAPS can continue to function while due process takes its course.
The party said this also lays bare the deeply alarming state of SAPS senior management, adding that what South Africa is seeing now is the consequence of years of weak leadership, blurred accountability, and a failure to clean out compromised networks inside the SAPS.
Civil rights organisation, AfriForum, described Masemola’s suspension as the shameful result of the long-standing systemic decline of the SAPS.
The group said that with this suspension, Masemola joins the ranks of many of his predecessors who were forced to leave office due to corruption, misconduct, fraud, and incompetence.