By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The longstanding minister of police Bheki Cele says he is ready for change as he is not expected to return to Parliament for its seventh administration.
Cele was at number 79 on the African National Congress (ANC) national list to Parliament, according to the seat allocations released by the Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC).
He didnt make the cut, number 73 was the last to make it to Parliament.
The rest of the ANC’s 159 seats in the National Assembly are the 86 obtained through the regional ballot, determined on the strength of performance.
On Thursday the IEC handed over the official lists of designated MPs and MPLs to Chief Justice Raymond Zondo. In turn, the Chief Justice handed the lists for each of the provincial legislatures to the respective judges president — and the lists of MPs to Secretary to Parliament Xolile George.
Cele was speaking during a vehicle handover ceremony at the Tshwane Police Academy on Friday.
He said he has no hard feelings and he expressed gratitude for the opportunity to serve the people of South Africa.
“I have a home. As a human being, if there is a start, you would be mad not to think about the end. There is a start and the end has arrived, if it has arrived. I left home to come and work, so if work is not there, I go home and reflect, see how you go forward, “said Cele.
“Life has many streams and all that. You cannot be kicking the dust when the time has arrived asking people and getting worried about it, as if you didn’t know that the time will come. Once it starts, it will have to end.
“I can just be grateful to the people of South Africa in particular my organisation, ANC that has given me the (opportunity). When I was in exile, when I was in prison, I never dreamt that I would be a minister one day. It has happened, just be grateful, be gracious, be humble, go home and keep quiet. Do not move around making noise as if somebody told you that you would be a permanent minister. There is no such thing,” said Cele, who was with his deputy Cassel Mathale and SAPS top officials.
Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu; Employment and Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi; Minister in the Presidency responsible for Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma; Minister of Public Service and Administration Noxolo Kiviet; Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Thandi Modise; and International Relations Minister Naledi Pandor are among those whose are expected not to return.
Parliament will feel the loss of former justice and defence committee chairpersons Bulelani Magwanishe and Cyril Xaba, who despite their quality track record, will not return as ANC MPs. Neither will Jerome Maake, who last chaired the Joint Standing Committee on Intelligence (JSCI).
Cele has also urged officers to use every resource at their disposal to prevent and combat crime across the country.
The minister handed over 130 police vehicles to the criminal record center unit, which is responsible for linking suspects to crime scenes through evidence collection and analysis.
“You have to know that women, children and elderly, while we fight crime altogether, the response to those is really prioritised. Therefore, it’s important that these cars do exactly that, including those that will be displayed which are fully flesh police station on the wheel, said Cele.
“Our job is to prevent, combat, investigate, uphold, and enforce the law. So, we need to capacitate every one of these elements as it is the definition of visible policing”.
The ANC dramatically fell from the 57.50% it garnered in the 2019 general elections to 40.18% in last week’s hotly-contested elections.