By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
President Cyril Ramaphosa says claims against Minister of Police Senzo Mchunu are of ‘grave national security concern’ and calls for ‘restraint and discipline’ from all parties.
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.
Ramaphosa said he will outline the actions to be taken on this matter on his return from the BRICS Leaders’ Summit currently underway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Mchunu has denied the allegations of interfering with police and misleading parliament.
He said the “wild allegations” 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 at large to be undermined by insinuations made without evidence or due processes, from anyone, including Lieutenant General Mkhwanazi. We will be reviewing the Provincial Commissioner’s statements and consider appropriate action,” said Mchunu.
Mkhwanazi also accused Mchunu of misleading Parliament about his relationship with an associate allegedly linked to organised crime, and specifically to tenderpreneur Vusumuzi “Cat” Matlala who, despite facing criminal allegations, was awarded lucrative SAPS tenders.
Matlala and his companies were red-flagged by whistleblower Babita Deokaran for corruption linked to a police health services tender, just weeks before she was assassinated. Matlala was under investigation by the Hawks and Special Investigating Unit at the time.
He was arrested in June on charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and money laundering, relating to an alleged hit on actress Tebogo Thobejane, which took place in 2023. Matlala’s wife, Tsakani, was also arrested, but was granted bail.
Mkhwanazi said on Sunday that the political killing task team’s work in Gauteng, supporting the Organised Crime Investigation Unit, exposed a syndicate involving politicians, law enforcement, and judicial figures.
He said a 2024 case involving the murder of Q-tech employee Armard Swart was found by the task team via ballistic analysis on seized firearms to be linked to high-profile crimes, and that this highlighted the team’s effectiveness before its closure.
Swart, an engineer, was shot multiple times while seated in his car outside his place of work. He was reportedly mistaken for another employee at the firm, which had uncovered corruption in a Transnet tender. Four men have been arrested for the murder of Swart and will go on trial in August. The fifth suspect, former Transnet employee Lucky Boitumelo Molefe, has been on the run since December 2024.
Mkhwanazi alleged there was a plot to destabilise the South African Police Service by targeting National Commissioner Fannie Masemola and framing senior officers to prevent them from exposing crime and corruption.
Between June and July, seven members of SAPS’s embattled Crime Intelligence Division members were arrested, allegedly relating to the appointment of an unqualified civilian to a senior post.
The seven are Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo (Divisional Commissioner), Maj-Gen Philani Lushaba (Chief Financial Officer), Maj-Gen Josias Lekalakala (Gauteng Crime Intelligence Head), Maj-Gen Nosipho Madondo (Head of Analysis Centre), Maj-Gen Zwelithini Gabela (Technology Services), Brig Dineo Mokwele (Technical Systems) and Brig Phindile Ncube (Head of Vetting).
Several of those arrested are custodians of the Crime Intelligence Secret Services Account — a classified budget intended for covert operations and informant payments, best described as a loosely regulated slush fund because of “national security” issues.
Mkhwanazi implied that some of those who were arrested were being defamed in public and couldn’t speak out because they understood the importance of national security. Those who had colluded to arrest them also knew the officers would not speak out, because they could then face charges for breaching national security protocols.
Mkhwanazi said a criminal investigation had been launched into the allegations of infiltration and control of the criminal justice system by organised crime syndicates and that the task team remained operational despite attempts to disrupt its work to protect and serve citizens.
Political parties are demanding that Ramaphosa fire Mchunu – they’re also demanding an urgent parliamentary debate on police corruption.