ACTING Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) chief Patrick Jaca has been permanently appointed to the position five years after it became vacant.
At a sitting on Thursday, the city’s council unanimously approved Jaca’s appointment despite reservations by the DA.
Jaca, who turns 62 in November, beat 74 other applicants to the position.
His appointment comes almost five years without a JMPD head since the resignation of David Tembe in March 2020.
Tembe left the position and later became an ActionSA councillor in the city and member of the mayoral committee (MMC) for public safety.
DA councillor Solomon Maila told the sitting that the party supported Jaca’s appointment with reservations.
”The process that led to this proposed appointment of the chief of police for the JMPD is problematic on multiple fronts,” he explained.
Maila continued: “We all know that the city obtained legal opinion in November/December 2024, which advised that a new selection and interview panel should be constituted.”
He said this was after the inclusion of Tembe on the initial panel was found to have been inappropriate as he could not as an expert considering the circumstances under which he resigned as JMPD chief in March 2020.
According to Maila, apart from the replacement of Tembe with former Ekurhuleni metro police chief Hlula Msimang, the selection panel that has made the recommendation to appoint Jaca largely remained the same.
”A strict reading of section 64 of the SA Police Service Amendment Act 83 of 1998 indicates that there are persons on the shortlist who should not have been shortlisted in the first place,” he added.
Maila said he was particularly concerned that Jaca will be turning 62 in November this year.
”The mandatory retirement age in the city is 63. This means that we will be back to square one in August/September next year looking for another chief of police as Mr, Jaca will be retiring. Instead of appointing someone younger to help us stabilise and professionalise the JMPD that has had no fulltime chief of police for almost five years now council is requested to appoint a chief of police who is already preparing for his retirement,” he said.
Group corporate and shared services MMC and ANC councillor Loyiso Masuku shot back, saying there was no compulsory retirement age in the municipality.
”The retirement ages differ depending on the pension fund that the employee is part of,” she explained.
Masuku said if an employee is a member of the Municipal Employees Pension Fund the retirement age is 65, and if you are part of the Municipal Employees Gratuity Fund, the retirement age is 65, but it can be changed to 68 through late retirement.
She added that with eJoburg, an employee the retirement is between 55 and 70 years.
”The NBC Fund is 65, that’s the normal retirement age with no option of late retirement and the SA Local Authorities Pension Fund the normal retirement age is 65 and there is no option for late retirement,” explained Masuku.
She said the city had started to work on a streamlined retirement process to ensure a standardised, legal retirement age as well as uniformity.
Earlier, ActionSA councillor Sarah Wissler was elected chairperson of section 79 public safety committee, beating Maila.
Wissler received 169 votes compared to Maila’s 67.
Section 79 committees are non-executive for specific functions and a council’s functions.