The Selebi case represents perhaps the most absurd example of ANC cadre deployment gone wrong: the head of South Africa's police force, and the elected President of Interpol — the international police organization — was simultaneously accepting cash payments from a convicted drug dealer.
Jackie Selebi was appointed SAPS National Commissioner in January 2000. In 2004, he was elected President of Interpol — ostensibly the world's top cop. Behind the facade, he maintained a corrupt relationship with Glenn Agliotti, a Johannesburg businessman involved in drug smuggling.
The investigation revealed that Agliotti had paid Selebi over R1.2 million in cash bribes. The payments were made to secure Selebi's protection and assistance. The connection between Selebi and Agliotti intersected with the murder of mining magnate Brett Kebble — Agliotti had served as a middleman between Selebi and Kebble for a $1 million payment from JCI's books.
When the National Prosecuting Authority began investigating Selebi, the response was not to support the investigation but to suppress it. The investigation became one of the triggers for the disbanding of the Scorpions — the NPA's elite investigative unit — which was replaced with the DPCI (Hawks) under greater political control.
Selebi was found guilty of corruption on 2 July 2010 and sentenced to 15 years. But he served less than one year, being released on "medical parole" in July 2012. He died on 23 January 2015.
The Selebi case demonstrated three things: first, that cadre deployment placed compromised individuals at the apex of critical institutions; second, that when these individuals were investigated, the ANC's response was to attack the investigators rather than support accountability; and third, that even when the courts delivered justice, medical parole ensured minimal actual punishment.