‘No, I didn’t do anything wrong,’ Masemola clarifies summons

National Police Commissioner Fannie Masemola has dismissed assertions that he was served with a summons for wrongdoing, describing it as a “normal process”.

The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) South African Police Service (Saps) briefed the media on Sunday following Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s reappointment as provincial commissioner.

Last week, the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) arrested Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala and his co-accused on charges of corruption, fraud and contravention of the PFMA, relating to the irregular awarding of a R360 million Saps contract. Masemola was served with a summons to appear in court over this matter.

Masemola: ‘I’m not charged’

The summons sparked confusion, with speculation about Masemola’s alleged wrongdoing and questions over why he had to appear in court rather than being formally charged.

Masemola said he could not divulge much as the matter is sub judice. However, he confirmed that he had engaged with President Cyril Ramaphosa on the matter. The commissioner further clarified that he had not been charged with any wrongdoing.

“Yes, I’ve been served with a summons to appear in court. I’m not charged, so whoever says I’m charged is wrong. I’m not charged. Anybody else can be given a summons that on this date, you must appear in court. There’s nothing abnormal about that; it’s a process that sometimes does happen,” said Masemola.

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He also dismissed rumours that the summons was a result of factional battles within the Saps.

“I cannot, for a moment, believe that any agency of government can be weaponised against anybody. So, I won’t buy into that narrative [that there is a target on his back]. I looked at this process as a process that is being done. We will see how the process unfolds as one appears in court,” he said.

“But with regard to the fight against organised crime, that we’re not going to stop; we will continue. Organised crime is a big problem for the country.”

‘I didn’t do anything wrong’

Masemola further dismissed allegations that he was caught sleeping regarding the awarding of this tender.

“Talking about dropping the ball, I wouldn’t know what you are indeed referring to. As an accounting officer, I’ve done my work. I’ve done what I was supposed to do. But I don’t think it’s an area one would want to venture into. Have I done anything wrong? No, I didn’t do anything wrong. I cancelled the contract, and I followed other processes, and yeah, that’s how far I want to take it.”

In a statement on Saturday, the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac) said it was clear its investigation stemmed from a referral by the Saps. It said no rules were flouted in arresting the accused in the Medicare24 matter and any other matter where the accused were summoned to appear before the court.

“The process followed was lawful in all aspects.”

‘I did not call Idac’

Masemola confirmed that Idac was called to investigate by the Saps, but clarified that he was not involved in the decision.

“I never called Idac to come and investigate. They informed me that they are there to investigate, and we cooperated with them. We gave them all the documents that they needed a year or two ago.

“Going back to 2024, you are aware that there was a meeting, and there was an appointment of internal auditors, and they went on to do some reports, and later, somewhere in April, the contract was cancelled.

“Forensic audit is still undertaking the process to check exactly who played what role in this thing. The report is due soon. Once one gets that report, you’ll be able to know exactly what went wrong, who did what, because the internal audit report does not exactly tell you everything about who did what wrong. The best report is the forensic audit report.”

Masemola is expected to appear on 21 April 2026.