By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa has announced the establishment of a judicial commission of inquiry into allegations of corruption and political interference in the police service.
Ramaphosa made the announcement in a national address on Sunday evening (13 July 2025).
In addition, Ramaphosa has placed Police Minister Senzo Mchunu on leave with immediate effect.
The announced actions come after KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi accused Mchunu of sabotaging a probe into political killings by seizing 121 open case files in March and pushing to disband the team tasked with the probe. Mchunu rejected the allegations.
Ramaphosa was attending the BRICS Plus summit in Brazil when Mkhwanazi made his allegations public.
The accusations were followed by calls from various political parties and other stakeholders for the minister to be suspended, fired, or in some cases, arrested.
Ramaphosa said the allegations against the police and related agencies are serious and raise concerns around the Constitution, rule of law and national security.
Fullview earlier reported that Ramaphosa has informed Mchunu that he would appoint a retired judge to investigate the allegations.
Ramaphosa met with Mchunu on Wednesday, the latter asked the president to move with haste and probe his decision to disband the political killings task team and make public the investigations’ findings within two months, as he does not want the dark cloud to hang over his head for too long.
Mchunu is also set to appear before the African National Congress (ANC) integrity commission to present his side of the story.
Firoz Cachalia, a former ANC politician and current professor of law at the University of the Witwatersrand, will serve as acting Police Minister in an interim.
Cachalia is a professor of law at the University of the Witwatersrand and is the chairperson of the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council. He previously served as the MEC of Community Safety in Gauteng.
The judicial commission of inquiry will be chaired by acting deputy chief justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga.
Ramaphosa added that Madlanga will be assisted by Advocate Sesi Baloyi and Advocate Sandile Khumalo in establishing the commission.
The president said the commission will investigate:
- facilitation of organised crime;
- suppression or manipulation of investigations;
- inducement into criminal actions by law enforcement leadership;
- commission of any other criminal offences and intimidation,
- victimisation or targeted removal of whistleblowers or officials resisting criminal influence.
It will also look into the role of current or former law enforcement officials who may have aided criminal activity, failed to act on credible intelligence or internal warnings, or benefited financially or politically from a syndicate’s operations.
Ramaphosa said the commission must wrap up its work and give a final report to him, with updates after three and six months. The end report will go to the National Assembly’s speaker and the Chief Justice.
South Africa is plagued by violent crime including one of the highest recorded murder rates in the world, while corruption is blamed — alongside mismanagement — for handicapping economic growth that has been anemic for the past 15 years.
Reactions
Democratic Alliance (DA)
DA leader John Steenhuisen said that the President has taken a step, but not the leap that this moment demands.
“While we welcome the replacement of Minister Mchunu, we also reject the attempt to create the illusion of reform while ANC ministers accused of corruption remain firmly in cabinet at the behest of presidential prerogative.
“If he (Ramaphosa) truly wants to root out criminal syndicates from the state, he must start with his Cabinet. South Africans deserve action, not more commissions,” Steenhuisen said.
He expressed concern that Ramaphosa has once again outsourced executive responsibility to a commission, and South Africans have grown cynical of talk shops, task teams, and commissions which they see as buying time and avoiding accountability.
Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)
Thembi Msane from the EFF said putting the minister on special leave is not doing justice to anyone else, because he gets paid for doing nothing.
“The EFF is appalled by the decision of President Cyril Ramaphosa to place Minister Senzo Mchunu on “special leave” instead of removing him entirely from his position. This so-called “special leave” is a cowardly deflection, designed to shield a corrupt Minister whose involvement in organised crime has been laid bare by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. “
“We additionally reject the legally and constitutionally baseless decision by the President to appoint an acting Minister of Police who is not a current member of Cabinet. This is a direct violation of Section 98 of the Constitution, which states: “The President may assign to a Minister any power or function of another Minister who is absent or otherwise unable to fulfil the functions of office,” Msane said.
MK Party
Nhlamulo Ndhlela, spokesperson for the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, described the President’s address as “the most catastrophic speech ever delivered by a president in this new dispensation.”
“This president had an opportunity to take South Africa into confidence and to deal with these issues decisively. Instead, he calls for a commission of inquiry, and he expects South Africa to be patient when people are dying on a daily basis,” Ndlela said.