SAUSIC National Spokesperson Pastor Lesiba Kgwele
By Pastor Lesiba Kgwele
National spokesperson South African Union Council of Independent Churches (SAUCIC)
The South African Union Council of Independent Churches (SAUCIC) on Tuesday called for intensified efforts to rid the South African Police Service (SAPS) of elements involved in crime.
This follows the arrest of three Mpumalanga officers aged between 32 and 35 allegedly involved in the death of a motorist following a multiple-vehicle accident in Embalenhle.
According to police, when the officers arrived at the scene on the 17 August 2025, one of the motorists involved in the accident fled on foot.
The officers gave chase and, after catching him, allegedly threw stones at him.
The injured man was later transported to the hospital by ambulance, where he died several hours later.
The arrests followed an intensive investigation led by both Saps Detectives and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID).
The call by SAUCIC representing affiliated Federations of Charismatic, Evangelical Outreach Mission Ministries and Pentecostal Churches also followed Monday’s death of a 54-year-old Pienaar Detective who died following a dramatic attempted robbery and shootout with police n Belfast on Friday night.
Three of the detective’s accomplices were reportedly arrested after a high-speed car chase and a shoot out with members of the Anti-Hijacking Task team that ended when the getaway vehicle, Nissan Go, crashed into a tree on Bhekumuzi Masango Drive.
Two firearms and ammunition were recovered at the scene.
SAUCIC President Cardinal Archbishop Dr Modiri Patrick Shole mentioned that ridding the police service of those who are running with the hares and hunting with the hounds will restore the confidence of communities in policing.
“The cancer of corruption and the war against violent organised crime which is claiming the lives of law-abiding citizens and police officers must first be won within SAPS before it can be won in communities,” pointed out Cardinal Shole.
Shole emphasised that nothing less than a major clean-up of the network of greed and its criminal syndicates will restore the credibility and integrity of the SAPS.
He called for Provincial SAPS Management in the province to be urgently stabilised for effective policing including strengthening of partnership with business, churches, traditional leaders, civil society organisations, crime prevention structures and communities.
“Lifting the protracted suspension of the Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Semakaleng Manamela in compliance with the High Court orders will be in the interest of policing in the province,” he added.
Shole called on the Acting Minister of Police, Professor Firoz Cachalia’s intervention to resolve the lawfare impasse between Manamela and National Commissioner General Fannie Masemola.