Cele, Masemola to visit Pietermaritzburg following mass murder. Image: Flickr / GCIS
Cele, Masemola to visit Pietermaritzburg following mass murder. Image: Flickr / GCIS
South Africans with a bone to pick were given a direct line to the Police Minister this week – albeit against his will. A former SAPS-official-turned-whistleblower posted the cell phone number of Bheki Cele online. Needless to say, the politician is furious with the whole episode.
Who you gonna call? Bheki Cele’s phone number leaked online
Patricia Mashale is on a mission. She has been in the news recently for a series of allegations made against Bheki Cele, the Police Service, and the ANC Government in general. She is threatening to expose a myriad of corruption, which even drags Cyril Ramaphosa into the row.
Mashale claims there have been ‘several attempts’ to assassinate her. She is demanding greater protection, in order for her to leak more incriminating evidence about SAPS and high-ranking members. The allegations are certainly serving as a thorn in Cele’s side.
SAPS whistleblower causing chaos for Police Minister
However, in a desperate bid to prove her claims are genuine, the whistleblower then shared information online about the minister’s contact details. Sure enough, they were all completely legitimate. And no, we aren’t going to pass them on…
The digits were dropped on Wednesday afternoon – and South Africans have had a field day with this illicit information. Bheki Cele says his phone ‘did not stop ringing’ throughout the remainder of the day. However, he claims that most prank-callers ‘hung up as soon as he answered’.
Bheki Cele asks South Africans to ‘stop calling him’
In typically forthright fashion, the hatted minister has demanded that curious callers ‘stop abusing the number’. Mr. Cele states that the line is often used to help people in need of serious assistance. Alas, a direct line to the Police Minister is not a plaything…
“From yesterday afternoon, I was wondering what happened. My phone was just ringing and ringing. As I pick the phone up, people drop the call! People were just checking it was me. This number is serious. People in trouble need access to it. Please refrain from abusing it.” | Bheki Cele
