Latest news with #Lebeya
The Citizen
24-06-2025
- The Citizen
Case against ‘abusive' guardians stalls as victim is transported to Zimbabwe
A child abuse case has stalled after the alleged perpetrators, the guardians of a Grade 5 learner from Skeen Primary School, reportedly took her to Zimbabwe, leaving police struggling to gather evidence. Read more: Indoda Wednesday dialogue focuses on men's health and substance abuse The family violence, child protection, and sexual offenses commander confirmed that the child was taken out of South Africa before critical evidence could be obtained. 'The learner's statement was not yet obtained and she had not been taken to a doctor. The learner must be taken to the doctor to prove the case.' The investigating officer said he suspects the accused guardians took the child to Zimbabwe to 'kill the case'. This was corroborated by Skeen Primary School deputy principal Masilo Lebeya, who revealed that the guardians took the child away swiftly, in the wake of allegations of abuse, and ahead of her June examinations, without informing the school. 'We only learned of her whereabouts when a social worker contacted one of the suspects, who admitted taking her to Zimbabwe,' Lebeya said, adding that the school subsequently opened a case of abuse at the Sandringham Police Station. When asked if there were early, telltale signs that the victim was being abused, Lebeya said they were only seen at a later stage, and that the process of counselling the victim was only initiated when they confirmed that she had a family problem. 'Remember, we are dealing with a lot of children here. You might find that, by the time a teacher notices that she needs to intervene, it is a bit late. It shows that the child has been suffering in silence,' he noted, further emphasising that the school has a strong support system and they have always encouraged children to share their problems. Matheba said they are trying to get the accused guardians to co-operate. He stressed that, without it, the police will not be able to build a case. Matheba said if they do not co-operate, the police will have to work with home affairs' immigration authorities to verify the victim's legal status in South Africa. 'If she was here illegally, then we would have to involve authorities on that side, to get her a passport so that she can be transported back to South Africa, and that will be a long process.' Follow us on our Whatsapp channel, Facebook, X, Instagram, and TikTok for the latest updates and inspiration! Have a story idea? We'd love to hear from you – join our WhatsApp group and share your thoughts! At Caxton, we employ humans to generate daily fresh news, not AI intervention. Happy reading!
Daily Maverick
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Can a new leader elevate the Hawks, help SA mount a more effective response to serious crime?
To effectively tackle serious crime, South Africa's Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation requires a strong leadership team. The process to appoint a new head of the Hawks – officially South Africa's Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation – is under way. This key criminal justice appointment should receive broad public attention. Lieutenant-General Godfrey Lebeya, who headed the Hawks from 2018, retired on 30 May. The Hawks' deputy head, Lieutenant-General Siphesihle Nkosi, is currently the acting head. Under the South African Police Service (SAPS) Act, the appointment is made by Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, with concurrence by the Cabinet. It is not clear how long the new appointment process will take. In early June, Mchunu withdrew the initial advertisement, indicating that the time frame for applications would be extended to find the best possible candidate. Against the backdrop of high levels of serious crime in South Africa, what are the prospects for this specialised unit? Could a new head help the country mount a more effective response to serious crime? A high-performing Hawks unit is crucial to tackling organised crime, financial crime and corruption, which are the focus of its mandate. Most of these crimes have cyber-forensic elements, and some have complex international dimensions. The global intergovernmental body, the Financial Action Task Force, requires South Africa to prove its ability to prosecute money laundering, illicit financial flows and terror financing. The Hawks must provide specialised investigation services to get these cases to court. During his time as Hawks head, Lebeya reported publicly each quarter on the directorate's successes. For the January to March 2025 period, he indicated that the unit had made arrests for various crimes, seized firearms, shut down drug laboratories and secured convictions against 239 persons. While there have been achievements, external observers have highlighted the Hawks' shortcomings, including a lack of skills. These hinder its ability to conduct complex investigations such as the 'proactive identification' of money laundering networks. The unit has never received sufficient budget funding to reduce its vacancy rate below 50%. Last week, Ian Cameron, chair of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Police, lamented how long it was taking for the Hawks to complete an investigation into corruption at the SAPS training centre in Philippi, Cape Town. When Mchunu announced the extension of the Hawks head application period, Cameron emphasised the need to make the 'right appointment'. Lebeya may have wanted to turn things around. But like his National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) colleague Shamila Batohi, he has had little room for manoeuvre. Turning criminal justice organisations around requires more than simply appointing good heads. A programme of strategic institutional strengthening must be directed by a skilled executive team that has political backing and financial support. The Hawks' history is intertwined with State Capture. Its predecessor, the Directorate for Special Operations, or Scorpions, was closed in 2009 by supporters of former president Jacob Zuma as a way to neutralise its investigations against Zuma and others. Following the Hawks' establishment, Zuma used his power over senior appointments to manipulate and undermine the unit and other criminal justice agencies. Following legal challenges, the Constitutional Court ruled in 2011 and again in 2014 that the state was obligated to establish an effective independent anti-corruption agency. The judgments said the Hawks should perform this role and that legislation must be amended to strengthen its independence. Notwithstanding these rulings, the process and criteria for senior leadership appointments remain challenging throughout the criminal justice system – including for the SAPS, NPA, Independent Police Investigative Directorate and the Hawks. While constitutional provisions entrench executive influence over certain senior criminal justice appointments, the extent to which this can be used to weaken such agencies must be curtailed. A key requirement is that independent professional panels run merit-based, competitive and transparent selection processes, and make recommendations. Rather than considering how to strengthen the Hawks, debate in Parliament and elsewhere has focused on setting up alternative structures to investigate corruption. At this point, it's unclear what responsibility the Hawks would retain in this regard. Either way, there is more than enough for the specialised unit to work on. South Africa must establish strategic centres for fighting organised and financial crime. Priority must be given to taking down networks that support the use of assassinations, particularly the killing of whistle-blowers, political leaders and community activists. The country also needs answers on where illegal guns are coming from and how to stop the supply. The new Hawks head should boost staff confidence by leading vigorous and independent investigations of priority crimes that demonstrate the unit's vital role in South Africa. This will require a strategic leadership team to galvanise public support and build the Hawks' capacity to work on complex crimes. The team should establish the Hawks as an employer of choice and a highly skilled law enforcement agency. The new head should also contribute to the overall strategic leadership of South Africa's multi-agency system for investigating organised crime, financial crime and corruption. This should include advocating for a crime intelligence and analysis apparatus aligned with the realities of crime in the 21st century. DM
IOL News
31-05-2025
- IOL News
Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya reflects on his legacy in the SAPS
Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya on Saturday delivered his last media briefing before retiring from the SAPS. Image: Ntswe Mokoena/GCIS Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya spoke fondly of his trials and tribulations, including being the best student of the course in June 1985 during his last media briefing before retiring from the SAPS on 1 June 2025. The SAPS- Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (DPCI-Hawks) held a legacy report briefing for the outgoing National Head in Pretoria on Saturday. Lebeya reflected on his tenure at the helm of the DPCI from 2018 to 2025 and offered insights into the milestones, challenges, and achievements during his leadership. In his parting shot, Lebeya recommended that part of the improvement plan for the SAPS should include: Work on capacitation of the DPCI to achieve 100% human resource capacity. Lebeya requested authority's to provide financial resources to achieve this. Work on the implementation of the remaining provisions of the SAPS Act. Work on the acquisition of the office accommodation for the personnel. Continue to work on acquisition of modern tools of trade. Continue to build the DPCI to be a criminal Investigative elite unit of South Africa. Lebeya began working in the SAPS at the Sophiatown Police Station on 12 May 1984 and said he aspired to be a mechanical engineer, but his application to the SAPS Benoni Mechanical School was unsuccessful. Over the years he worked at Hillbrow SAPS in Crime Prevention and Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the house-breaking and theft unit. He was later transferred to investigate more serious cases such as murders, robberies, bribery, forgery, uttering and fraud. Lebeya went on to establish the Johannesburg North Fraud Section which was based at Sandton police station. In January 2000, he was appointed the Provincial Head of Specialised Investigations in Gauteng Province and by November 2000, he was appointed the Provincial Head of Detective Service in Gauteng on the rank of Assistant Commissioner, the current Major General rank. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Next Stay Close ✕ In his academic pursuit, Lebeya completed a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree and by 2006 was admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of South Africa. Lebeya also pursued a Doctorate degree which was conferred in the field of Law, Doctor of Laws (LLD) in 2012 on the topic of 'Understanding Organised Crime'. One of his crowning moments came in June 2018, when he was appointed as the National Head of the DPCI. 'Part of the style of investigation is to conduct major investigations. In Project-Driven Investigations, we initiated 113 complex projects and successfully concluded 67 which is 75% while others are still pending and others unsuccessful. A total number of 566 arrests were effected,' he said . Lebeya said he worked on enhancing technological systems and believed that the Digital Forensic Unit is growing with public private partnerships. 'We have established the Forensic Accounting Investigation which has also partnered with business to ensure transferal of skills. Our coordination of work has been enhanced with the operationalisation of the National Priority Crime Investigations and its sub-committees,' Lebeya said.
IOL News
12-05-2025
- IOL News
Man in court for impersonating Hawks chief and scamming R100,000
Thabo Theletsane appeared before the Hatfield Magistrates court on charges of impersonating a police officer. A 42-year-old man appeared in the Hatfield Magistrates court on charges of fraud and impersonating the national head of Hawks, Lieutenant General Godfrey Lebeya. Thabo Theletsane appeared on Monday after he was arrested on Saturday, May 10, 2025, by the National Serious Corruption Investigation of the Hawks in Petrus Steyn in the Free State. Hawks spokesperson, Brigadier Thandi Mbambo, said in October, Theletsane allegedly contacted a prominent businessman residing in Gauteng via WhatsApp, falsely claiming to be Lieutenant General Lebeya. "Using a profile picture and personal details resembling those of Lieutenant General Lebeya, the accused deceived the victim. It is alleged that the accused claimed that the mobile phone of the victim had been hacked and, under the pretext of assisting with a security breach, requested the victim's personal information," said Mbambo. Mbambo added that the victim believed that he was in communication with Lieutenant General Lebeya and provided Theletsane with his personal details and contact information of close associates. "The accused later solicited money, claiming to have successfully de-bugged the victim's mobile devices. An amount of more than R100,000 was subsequently paid by the victim," said Mbambo.
TimesLIVE
12-05-2025
- TimesLIVE
Man accused of impersonating Hawks head Godfrey Lebeya in court
A man who allegedly impersonated Hawks head Lt-Gen Godfrey Lebeya appeared before the Hatfield magistrate's court on Monday on a charge of impersonating a police officer. Thabo Theletsane, 42, was arrested on Saturday by the Hawks' national serious corruption investigation unit in Petrus Steyn in the Free State. He is also charged with fraud. In October last year, the accused allegedly contacted a prominent South African businessman residing in Gauteng via WhatsApp falsely claiming to be Lebeya. Using a profile picture and personal details resembling those of Lebeya, the accused allegedly deceived the victim. It is alleged the accused claimed the victim's mobile phone had been hacked and, on the pretext of assisting him with a security breach, requested the victim's personal information. Believing he was communicating with the real national head of the Hawks, the victim provided personal details and contact information of close associates. 'The accused later solicited money, claiming to have successfully 'debugged' the victim's mobile devices. An of more than R100,000 was subsequently paid by the victims,' Hawks spokesperson Brig Thandi Mbambo said. The case was postponed until Thursday for a bail application and the accused was remanded. 'The community is warned against making payments to police officers as they are not authorised to solicit money for services rendered,' Mbambo said.
