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Advocate Vusi Pikoli's successor as Police Ombudsman for the Western Cape was announced as career policeman Major General Johan Brand on Wednesday.
"Major General Brand has been a key partner in implementing the Khayelitsha Commission of Inquiry recommendations. We look forward to him bringing this expertise into the office of the police ombudsman," Premier Helen Zille said in a statement.
Brand's appointment is under the Western Cape Community Safety Act. It gives the Western Cape Police Ombudsman powers and functions to investigate complaints about police inefficiency or a breakdown in the relations between a community and the police.
Zille said his appointment followed consultations, and the approval of his appointment in the standing committee of community safety in the provincial legislature. It also got the nod from Community Safety MEC Dan Plato.
Zille said that as Cluster Commander for Khayelitsha since July 2014, Brand's three decades of experience in the South African Police Service made him a "pillar of strength" in forging an improved relationship between communities and police.
Pikoli was appointed in 2014 as the first ombud for a five-year, non-renewable term.
He left in April to become an advisor to Minister of State Security Dipuo Letsatsi-Duba.
READ: Senior cop to oversee Khayelitsha
Brand previously also headed the Mitchells Plain police station and his experience includes detective work and work in the Child Protection Unit, as well as policing in Soweto, Johannesburg. He also holds a master's degree in public management.
Asked whether he had to resign from his post and who the new cluster commander for Khayelitsha would be, police spokesperson Sergeant Noloyiso Rwexana said: "Please be advised that matters between employer and employee in the SAPS are not discussed in the media and our deployments are not discussed in the media."
A provincial report in 2017 noted that, during 2015/16 and 2016/17, the ombudsman dealt with 22 complaints emanating from Khayelitsha police stations.
They dealt with lack of communication, poor investigation, poor response times and unacceptable behaviour.
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