Johannesburg – Acting head of crime intelligence Bongiwe Zulu does have top security clearance to perform her duties, national police spokesperson Lieutenant General Solomon Makgale said on Thursday,

Makgale was responding to a report in The Star that claimed Zulu did not have top secret security clearance and was not authorised to see documents marked top secret.

“Despite confirmation provided that… Dr Bongiwe Zulu had the necessary top security clearance to perform her duties, the newspaper decided to publish the article,” Makgale said.

“The article is inaccurate in its entirety.”

Sources

However, Kevin Ritchie, deputy editor of The Star said the newspaper’s sources had a different story to tell.

“We would not publish something that we had doubts with. The story was done by one of our senior reporters, with impeccable resources…. Our sources are saying something different.”

Zulu was appointed to the post last month after her predecessor Major General Chris Ngcobo was placed on special leave when a vetting process revealed discrepancies in his qualifications.

Makgale said Thursday’s article aimed to discredit national police commissioner Riah Phiyega, who was accused of blundering by appointing Zulu to the post.

“The Star got it horribly wrong and failed to obtain comment from the SA Police Service on the information provided by its sources,” said Makgale.

He said the newspaper and those who provided comments for the story had fallen for “trickery by those with their own agendas, who are now clutching at straws to discredit… Phiyega.”

– SAPA