Pretoria, South Africa – South Africa’s Police Minister, Senzo Mchunu, has been accused of having ties to criminal gangs and of interfering with police investigations into politically motivated murders.
These “explosive allegations” were made by KwaZulu-Natal police boss Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi at a press briefing on Sunday. General Mkhwanazi claimed that Mr. Mchunu was receiving financial support from an allegedly corrupt businessman to fund his “political endeavours.”
Mr. Mchunu has since denied what he termed “wild allegations,” while President Cyril Ramaphosa stated that the accusations were of “grave national security concern” and were “receiving the highest priority attention.”
General Mkhwanazi detailed a sequence of events he claims led to the “orchestrated” disbandment of a task force established in 2018 to investigate the killings of politicians, primarily in KwaZulu-Natal. He asserted that the team’s investigations had uncovered links to high-profile individuals – including politicians, police officials, and businesspeople tied to a drug cartel syndicate – which, he alleged, was the reason for the unit’s disbandment.
When he dissolved the unit earlier this year, Minister Mchunu had stated that it was not adding value in the province, despite many cases remaining unsolved. According to General Mkhwanazi, a total of 121 case files were allegedly removed from the unit on the minister’s instruction and without the authorisation of his superior, national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola. “These case dockets have, since March, been sitting at the head office ever since without any investigation work done on them. Five of these dockets already had instructions to [effect] arrests,” Mkhwanazi claimed.
The provincial police chief also alleged Mr. Mchunu had ties to a controversial businessman, Vusimuzi Matlala, who was “financially supporting” the minister’s political career. Mr. Matlala had a lucrative contract with the police that was abruptly cancelled following his arrest for attempted murder in May. General Mkhwanazi presented copies of text messages and a payment allegedly made by Mr. Matlala as evidence.
General Fannie Masemola, for his part, stated that he would address these allegations later in the week when he announces the appointment of a temporary crime intelligence chief. This follows the arrest last month of the criminal intelligence chief, Lieutenant-General Dumisani Khumalo, over fraud and corruption allegations. General Khumalo and six others had been linked to an ongoing investigation into alleged abuse of intelligence funds and potentially unlawful appointments within the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Add Comment