Bheki Cele has thanked South Africans for allowing him to lead them.
Police Minister Bheki Cele, who is set to vacate his position as an MP, has thanked South Africans for allowing him to lead them.
Cele is among ANC leaders, including Social Development Minister Lindiwe Zulu, Labour Minister Thulas Nxesi and Defence Minister Thandi Modise, who are set to lose their Cabinet posts.
The names of these senior ANC leaders do not appear on the list of people going to the 400-seater National Assembly after the party’s dismal showing at the polls reduced their seats from 230 to 159. In the previous election in 2019, the party had won 230 seats.
“The people of South Africa have given me the opportunity and I thank them for making me a minister, which I think is one point below the president. So, I am always thankful and grateful.
“If they have seen that you have done your job and they have put you there, and you tried your best, and the time to go must come, you have no reason to kick the dust. There is a time to start and a time to end, and if the time to end has arrived, I must go home, rest and do other things. Life has got many other channels. It is not the end of the road,” he said.
Cele, who was speaking on the sidelines of the handing over of the Forensic (LCRC) vehicles on Friday, said he was not born a minister and accepts that his time to be a minister has come to an end, adding that being angry does not help and he feels no entitlement to be a minister at all costs.
“When I came from my mother’s womb, I was not a minister. I was just me, Bhekokwakhe Cele. Even when I was growing up, I never thought I would be a minister. There is, therefore, nothing wrong to going back to being Bhekokwakhe Cele,” he said.
Cele and members of his team took part in the handing over vehicles to detective and forensic services of the police as part of efforts to improve the response time to crime scenes by crime scene experts.
The event was also attended by National Commissioner of the SAPS General Fannie Masemola and Deputy Police Minister, Cassel Mathale, who presided over the handing over of more than 130 vehicles to the criminal record centre units responsible for linking suspects to crime scenes through evidence collection and analysis.
Cele warned his men and women to not to misuse the cars for their own pleasure.
The Star