President Cyril Ramaphosa says he is seized with acting on the visibly clear tensions between Police Minister Bheki Cele and Police Commissioner, General Kehla Sitole, in order to bring stability to the security cluster.

The President said this when he interacted with journalists in Cape Town following his response to the debate on the State of the Nation Address, on Wednesday.

“It concerns me and it is a matter that I am paying attention to,” the President said.

This comes after tensions between the Minister and the Police Commissioner have played out for months, with the Police Minister showing further signs of the strained relations between him and the police boss during his SONA debate speech at the City Hall on Monday.

“It is quite clear from the Mufamadi Report as well as from the Panel of Experts report that there are challenges and problems both at an operational level as well as at a personnel level that need to be addressed.

“The reason why we have flighted the notion that there would be changes is precisely to address some of these challenges that we have seen that are apparent and it also speaks to what you call the “spats” between some of the key people in the police,” the President said.

The President said he is working towards an initiative that will seek to address these challenges.

“That too is the manifestation of some of the problems that we have got in the security or in the police, particularly where people who are supposed to be occupying key positions are seen to be at odds.

“So the initiative that we are going to put in place will have to be seen to be addressing issues like that. So that [is] what we will be seeking to do.”

Source: South African Government News Agency