Crime Intelligence boss Major General Feroz Khan has won an appeal after urgently applying to the Labour Court to prevent police from instituting an expeditious disciplinary process.
The process would have seen Khan, the national head of security and counter-intelligence, dismissed from his position within the police force.
He approached the court on November 5, to prevent the SAPS from commencing the process.
During the judgment, the judge stated that Khan’s disciplinary hearing should be convened under regulations 8 and 11 of the SAPS’ disciplinary regulations, which would be a less severe process.
Regulation 8 will allow Khan to exercise his right to representation by a union official, union representative, or colleague, and bring along witnesses.
Regulation 11 states the SAPS must appoint a chairperson for the disciplinary hearing and it must be an employee of the police force.
The court further ordered all parties to pay their own costs.
This entire process stems from an incident which took place on July 9, 2021, when a 715kg cocaine haul was discovered in Aeroton in Johannesburg being disguised as truck parts.
According to information at the time, the truck was travelling from the Durban Harbour with a container that stored the vehicle parts and cocaine.
The container was shipped from Brazil.
A Gauteng Highway Patrol officer called Khan to the scene after he was worried about a conflict between two different sets of police officers which may cause a rift.
According to Khan, he went to the scene and questioned a few officers on their activities and left the scene as soon as the Gauteng head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (known as Hawks), Major General Ebrahim Kadwa arrived at the scene.
Khan faces accusations of interfering with the investigation and obstructing justice.
robin.francke@iol.co.za
IOL