Masemola returns as police commissioner, vows stronger frontline policing

South African National Police Commissioner General Fannie Masemola has returned to duty after President Cyril Ramaphosa lifted his precautionary suspension. Charges against him under the Public Finance Management Act, relating to a police health-services contract, were withdrawn on September 15 and formally closed by the court on September 22. Masemola pledged to improve police-station resources, response times and visible policing, address staffing gaps and hold commanders accountable. He said recruitment of new trainees would begin soon and stressed that the SAPS’s constitutional mandate must come before personal interests.