Disbanding Cato Manor Organised Crime Unit was ‘catastrophic mistake’, led to crime spike

The former commander of the disbanded Cato Manor Organised Crime Unit has spoken out on its closure more than a decade ago, stating that the move was a “catastrophic mistake” for the province and has crippled the police's ability to fight and contain violent crimes.

Former Major General Johan Booysen, who has since retired, described the closure as a “disaster,” adding that the police unit had been one of the best in the country.

Booysen spoke to The Mercury yesterday, days after former police minister and commissioner Bheki Cele told members of the Parliament Ad Hoc Committee that closing the unit had severely undermined the fight against crime.

The Ad Hoc Committee is investigating allegations of collusion between politicians, senior police officers, members of the judiciary, and criminals to undermine the rule of law. The allegations were first raised by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

The work and effectiveness of this unit came under scrutiny when Cele testified before the committee, reiterating that it was one of the best in the country. He blamed Mkhwanazi and the late minister of police, Nathi Mthethwa, for disbanding a unit that he claimed was “very effective” in fighting violent crime in the province.

Leading up to it being closed down, the unit had come under scrutiny, with accusations of it being a “killing squad.” These reports were later retracted after being found to be untrue.

Following the arrest of the members and the disbandment of their unit, some members have taken legal action against the government, filing damages claims amounting to millions of rand regarding how they were treated by the state.

In a statement, Booysen described the unit as one of the best the country has ever had and said shuttering it has been devastating to the fight against crime.

He noted that the Cato Manor unit was closed in 2012 due to political interference, after misinformation was planted in a newspaper by nefarious players in the police’s Crime Intelligence Unit at the time of its closure.

“Before they were unceremoniously shut down, they managed to bring cash-in-transit heists and ATM bombings down to almost zero. They had a major impact in addressing violent crime in KZN, such as vehicle jackings, police killings, and taxi-related murders. The previous minister of police, Bheki Cele, confirmed as much during a recent sitting of the Ad Hoc Committee in Parliament. I agree with the erstwhile minister that it was a ‘disaster’ to close Cato Manor,” said the former commander.

He stated that years of institutional knowledge and informer networks, which took years to establish, were lost. “Not surprisingly, crime spiked as a result. The tenure of Riah Phiyega as police national commissioner and later the disastrous appointment of Berning Ntlemeza as head of the Hawks particularly caused immeasurable harm to the police organisation. The police are presently in an existential crisis,” he stated.

He said drastic intervention and political will are needed to avoid a complete implosion of the organisation. “There is no time to experiment. Strong and decisive leadership is required to salvage the police as an organisation,” he concluded.

Cele told the members of the committee that while the organised crime unit was operating, it had essentially crushed violent crimes. “Cash-in-transit heists in KwaZulu-Natal were zero because of the work of that unit,” he said.

When asked why the unit was closed down, Cele responded, “Ask KwaZulu-Natal Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi; he is still there. The former minister Mthethwa, God rest his soul, and his president (Jacob Zuma was the president of the country at the time) had a habit of ‘reversing things’,” he said, highlighting that before Phiyega took over, crime had been under firm control in the country.

He noted that after Phiyega took over and started making changes inside the management and police unit, crime got out of control. “You can see, crime went up like a Concorde (airplane) to this day,” Cele said.

THE MERCURY