By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
The African National Congress (ANC) secretary general Fikile Mbalula says the allegations against minister of police Senzo Mchunu are alarming and undermine confidence in the state’s ability to uphold law and order.
Mbalula briefed the media on Monday on various political developments.
Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the police commissioner in KwaZulu-Natal province, said Mchunu and senior national police officials in March seized dockets with information on political killings and effectively froze the probes.
He questioned the motives behind what he said were Mchunu’s plans to disband a task team established to look into the deaths.
Mbalula said Mchunu would brief ANC officials “as a deployee” of the party. “I’m fully confident that he will engage with the leadership of the ANC on the disparaging allegations that have been made.”
“But at the end of the day, where action must be taken is in government, it’s not in the ANC. And the ANC would like to see action,” Mbalula said.
On Sunday, Mchunu accused Mkhwanazi of making “wild allegations” that required “an urgent, thorough and transparent investigation, on a proper platform”.
“The minister of police will never allow his integrity, that of the ministry or the SAPS [South African Police Service] at large, to be undermined by insinuations made without evidence or due processes, from anyone, including Lieutenant General Mkhwanazi,” the police minister said. “We will be reviewing the provincial commissioner’s statements and consider appropriate action.”
Mbalula said the issues raised by Mkhwanazi must be attended to, and the facts established.
He said the party would not defend Mchunu or any of its members implicated in wrongdoing.
“This thing that we are complicit in as a party to the protection of wrongdoing, maybe it happened in the past. At the present moment we’re carrying out our renewal project,” Mbalula said.
“We have said that even if you are members of the ANC and you are arrested, you are on the wrong side of the law, you are accused of corruption, you step aside. We are without our former secretary general [Ace Magashule] in the party because we had to put him on a step aside.”
The ANC’s step-aside rule stipulates that members charged with criminal offences must relinquish their positions until they are cleared of the charges.
Mbalula said some South Africans had already decided that Mchunu was guilty, but he still had to tell his side of the story.
He stressed that while the ANC acknowledged the commissioner’s past contributions in the fight against crime, it was now up to the President and state institutions to ensure transparency and restore public trust.
Mbalula has also defended Minister of Higher Education Nobuhle Nkabane, saying she did not “lie” to Parliament but made a “mistake” with the appointments of the Sector Education and Training Authorities (SETAs) chairpersons.
She said the minister had corrected her mistake by restarting the entire process.
“There was no intent to mislead Parliament and certainly no malice. Upon becoming aware of the error, the minister promptly apologised to Parliament and issued a formal written apology to Adv Terry Motau, personally and publicly, acknowledging the mistake and correcting the record.”
Mbalula has accused the Democratic Alliance (DA) of “performative politics” by laying a perjury case against Nkabane with the police.
The DA swiftly hit back through its national spokesperson and Member of Parliament on the Higher Education Committee, Karabo Khakhau.
The DA declared it was “astounded” by the ANC’s “full and unconditional backing of lying minister Nkabane”.
Khakhau confirmed that the DA’s criminal complaint against Nkabane was now under investigation by the Hawks, who are probing allegations of fraud and violations of statutory provisions related to misleading Parliament.
Mbalula also condemned a disturbing trend among some sections of the media where journalists are not only reporting the news, but are actively participating in shaping the public agenda.
He urged institutions like the Press Council and South African National Editors’ Forum to address what he termed an “ethical rot” in media coverage, warning that misinformation could damage both democracy and public confidence.
Mbalula used the opportunity to clarify that the GNU was functioning, despite challenges.
“GNU does not belong to the ANC and DA alone; it is a 10-party arrangement reflecting the will of the electorate. We were instructed by voters to share power. Disagreements are natural, they must be resolved through dialogue, not brinkmanship,” he stated.