Acting National Commissioner of the South African Police Service · Pretoria
Acting National Commissioner · has not testified before this commission
The officer who has been running the South African Police Service through most of this commission's evidence, and who has never appeared before it. Puleng Dimpane joined the SAPS in 2007 as an internal auditor, commanded internal audit in the Free State, became the province's major-general for asset management, and in 2018 was appointed divisional commissioner for financial management services - the service's chief financial officer. On 23 April 2026 President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed her Acting National Commissioner, on the day he placed General Fannie Masemola on precautionary suspension over the Medicare24 tender charges, describing her as having extensive experience in policing, strategic finance and governance and a reputation for professionalism and integrity. She is not an accused, a suspect or a summoned witness in this inquiry. She enters the archive twice: once as a witness before Parliament's parallel ad hoc committee in December 2025, where per eNCA she disclosed that the Political Killings Task Team had incurred R435 million in expenses since its inception and told MPs that consequence management within SAPS for irregular expenditure was 'ineffective'; and once inside the commission's own evidence, where Lieutenant-Colonel Deenadayalan Govender testified on Day 170 that she had given KwaZulu-Natal commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi seven days to explain his June 2026 Pretoria media briefing. Nothing on this page is an allegation against her.
Puleng Dimpaneacting national commissionerSAPS chief financial officerMadlanga Commission
This profile summarises testimony and evidence given on the public record before the Madlanga Commission of Inquiry. It restates allegations as presented at the hearings and is not a finding of guilt, liability, or wrongdoing by any person.
Awaiting appearanceNo portrait on the public record yet
Their role
What the record says
Appointed Acting National Commissioner on the day Masemola was suspended (23 April 2026)
Per Al Jazeera, Business Day and the Daily Maverick, President Ramaphosa appointed Dimpane Acting National Commissioner on 23 April 2026, simultaneously placing General Fannie Masemola on precautionary suspension pending the conclusion of his Public Finance Management Act case over the SAPS health-services tender awarded to Vusimuzi 'Cat' Matlala's Medicare24. Ramaphosa said she possesses 'extensive experience in the police, strategic finance and governance' along with 'a reputation for professionalism as well as integrity'. This is an appointment, not a finding about anyone; Masemola's charges remain untested and he is presumed innocent.
Told Parliament's ad hoc committee the task team had cost R435 million and that consequence management was ineffective (December 2025)
Per eNCA, Dimpane gave evidence to Parliament's Ad Hoc Committee investigating Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's allegations in December 2025, in her then capacity as the SAPS chief financial officer. She disclosed that the Political Killings Task Team had incurred R435 million in expenses since its inception, and told the committee that consequence management within the service, particularly on irregular expenditure, was 'ineffective'. She noted that before recent organisational changes she had no direct involvement in contract awards or supply chain management. That evidence was given to Parliament, not to this commission, which has not heard from her.
Named in evidence as having demanded an explanation from Mkhwanazi over the June 2026 briefing (Day 170, 31 August 2026)
Per the Sowetan, Lieutenant-Colonel Deenadayalan Govender told the Madlanga Commission on Day 170 that Dimpane had given KwaZulu-Natal provincial commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi seven days to explain why he held a media briefing in Pretoria in June 2026, at a time when Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and Major-General Nosipho Madondo had been summoned to Brooklyn police station on IDAC warrants. That is an account of an internal SAPS process given from the witness box; it is untested, Dimpane has not been asked about it before the commission, and it carries no allegation of wrongdoing by her.
Welcomed the withdrawal of the fraud charges against the Crime Intelligence head (22 August 2026)
Per Eyewitness News, after the charges against Crime Intelligence head Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo and his co-accused were withdrawn on 21 August 2026, Dimpane said Khumalo 'must now refocus on strengthening intelligence-led operations and dismantling organised criminal networks', that strengthening intelligence and leadership capacity remains an apex priority for the acting national commissioner, and that the SAPS 'remains resolute in its efforts to dismantle highly organised criminal networks and bring serious and violent offenders to justice'. A statement by the head of the service, not a finding on anything before the commission.