SAPS mum on Hawks boss Booysen

Police would not confirm whether they had opened a criminal case against under-fire KZN Hawks boss Johan Booysen.

Durban – Police on Monday were not able to confirm if they had opened a criminal case against the KwaZulu-Natal head of the Hawks, who is facing disciplinary processes over allegations of fraud.

Major-General Johan Booysen was expected by 5pm on Monday to respond to allegations of fraud after he was served last week with a “contemplated notice of suspension”.

Police spokesman Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said: “I cannot confirm or deny whether a criminal investigation is underway.”

Mulaudzi confirmed that Booysen had until Monday to respond to the allegations, but said he could not comment on the allegations until they had been properly investigated.

Booysen’s lawyer Carl van der Merwe confirmed that Booysen was in Pretoria on Monday lodging the responses to the fraud allegations.

The notice handed to Booysen last week invited him to reply to allegations that he had submitted a document fraudulently.

The latest allegation is unrelated to the 2012 case in which Booysen was charged by the then acting national director of public prosecutions Nomgcobo Jiba for racketeering. He was charged along with 28 other members of the former Cato Manor Organised Crime unit which he headed up.

Charges against Booysen were ultimately thrown out by Durban High Court Judge Trevor Gorven, who at the time described Jiba’s decision to charge Booysen as “arbitrary, (and) offend the principle of legality and, therefore, the rule of law and were unconstitutional”.

Gorven, in his judgement, agreed with Booysen’s assertion that Jiba lied about having certain statements before her when she decided to prosecute, and could therefore not have used them to make her decision.

Booysen had been accused of running a criminal enterprise consisting of members of the former Cato Manor Organised Crime Unit that he headed up.

ANA