Under-fire police minister Senzo Mchunu has urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to move at lightning speed to launch a no-nonsense, independent investigation into swirling allegations that he unlawfully interfered in high-profile police cases involving his associates.
Sunday World can reveal that Mchunu met Ramaphosa on Wednesday in Johannesburg and 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 ANC’s integrity commission to present his side of the story.
Sources in the corridors of power said in that meeting the president demanded chapter and verse of the SAPS fiasco.
“The president expressed his frustration that the allegations by the KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner have actually thrust him under the spotlight, and he now has to act. So he wanted to understand what was happening,” a government insider told Sunday World.
Last weekend, KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt- Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, dropped a bombshell, alleging that together with Mchunu, some MPs, prosecutors, and even judges were knee-deep in defeating the ends of justice.
Mkhwanazi alleged during a media briefing that Mchunu had dissolved the elite investigative task team to protect suspected criminals who were under the team’s radar, including tender kingpin Vusi “The Cat” Matlala.
The president, our sources said, has been rattled by the claims and is feeling the heat of growing public scrutiny.
“The minister urged the president to conduct a speedy investigation on the matter, preferably not lasting more than two months, or even shorter, where everything about this matter could be brought into the open.
“It should be an independent investigation. It may not be a commission of inquiry, but it’s something that will have to be headed by an independent person to quickly get to the bottom of the allegations,” government insiders added.
Those in the know said no one, including Mchunu, Mkhwanazi, or any other named and unnamed bigwig, is likely to face the axe until the dust settles and the independent probe delivers its verdict.
“It would also be unfair to act on Mchunu alone when the allegations implicated people in the judiciary, prosecutors and MPs,” said one source, echoing the defensive stance of Mchunu’s loyalists.
But the Mchunu brigade is not letting the president off the hook either. They’re quick to point out unresolved scandals, including the infamous Phala Phala saga dogging Ramaphosa. “Just like Mchunu, Ramaphosa faced a criminal case, but he did not resign,” said a source.
In a move straight out of the playbook for political survival, Mchunu’s inner circle is urging total transparency to clear his name, and fast. “He must also be seen to be proactive and coming forward with information; that is why he’s already preparing for the ANC integrity commission to present himself so that he can explain and give his side of the story,” a Mchunu ally told Sunday World.
According to his defenders, he intervened to stop possible financial mismanagement. They point to internal communiques stretching back to March last year, when the then crime intelligence boss Dumisani Khumalo – recently arrested and out on bail – asked for a staggering R95-million for the political killings task team.
In an internal police memo, Khumalo spelt out that “the estimated budget of R94,857,999 be approved and funded from the national budget and such budget be ring-fenced under its own project code within the division of crime intelligence.”
In the memo that we have seen, Khumalo added: “Alternatively, whilst the final budget allocation is still being considered for 2024/2025, a two-month portion (R15.81m) of the above estimated budget is to be approved for the extension of the task team to be effected from 1st April 2024.”
On March 26, Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya agreed, but Divisional Commissioner for Financial Management and Administration Lt-Gen Puleng Dimpane made it clear that, considering the 11% reduction in the operational budget of the organisation… an amount of R20-million be approved for the 2024/2025 financial year. “Post election, the task team [should] be deactivated, as it has been in existence for the last five years…”
The plot thickened on April 16, 2024, when National Police Commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola gave a provisional nod to the R20-million, but stated the task team will continue beyond elections so long as there is work to be done, with the caveat that “the team cannot be localised to KZN”.
It is alleged that by the time Mchunu took the reins as minister in June last year, the entire R20-million was already gone, and somewhere in the region of R78-million overspent, pushing the total to nearly R100-million.
“This is explained as the reason why in December last year, Mchunu issued an instruction that the task team must be disbanded,” an insider revealed.
About the allegations that Mchunu lied to Parliament about his relationship with Brown Mogotsi, Mchunu’s camp is sticking to its guns that he only denied that Mogotsi was an “associate.” “He is just a comrade,” a source insists.
On Thursday Ramaphosa summoned Mkhwanazi, who flew from KwaZulu-Natal to meet him in Gauteng. Sources said that it was a long meeting where Ramaphosa asked for evidence from Mkhwanazi and asked questions where there was confusion.
As a result, Mkhwanazi had to stay in Gauteng longer than anticipated to provide more clarity in person should Ramaphosa require it on the evidence provided. He consequently missed the Durban raid on Friday morning together with KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli and officials from the Department of Labour.
All eyes are on the Union Buildings as the president is expected to break his silence today and reveal his next move. Presidency spokesperson Vincent Magwenya urged for patience until Ramaphosa’s address, while police spokesperson Brigadier Athlenda Mathe declined to comment on “operational matters”. Mchunu’s spokesperson Kamogelo Mogotsi did not immediately respond to questions. – Additional reporting by Sihle Mavuso
