Jackie Selebi must go, now.

Jackie Selebi must go, now.

South Africa cannot afford to have a part-time police commissioner take command of the war against crime while his disgraced boss sits out a suspension and pulls in a million bucks a year.

And that's also the official line. Safety and Security Minister Nathi Mthethwa has formally asked President Kgalema Motlanthe to replace Selebi.

So why have we waited more than a year for a man who acknowledges he hangs out with mafiosi and now faces a criminal trial for corruption to get the boot?

Selebi had friends in high places during Thabo Mbeki's regime. The former president was even prepared to replace the country's top prosecutor for investigating his buddy.

But we all thought the days had passed when the Jacob Zuma faction ascended to power with promises of rooting out official hanky-panky.

So what is Motlanthe waiting for?

Unfortunately, the signs bode ill for long-suffering South Africans. The president canned suspended NPA boss Vusi Pikoli though he had been cleared by Frene Ginwala's commission of inquiry of the charges Mbeki laid against him

What does our erstwhile top cop have over the ANC politicians that they all seem to resist getting rid of him?