The uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) Party has issued a scathing rebuke of President Cyril Ramaphosa’s response or lack thereof to explosive allegations implicating elements of the police service and senior political figures.
The MK Party, which was picketing outside Alexandra Magistrate’s Court where incarcerated tenderpreneur Vusumuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala was appearing, accused the head of state of ‘abandoning his post’ during a moment of national crisis.
The comments follow whistleblower revelations by former Crime Intelligence operative, who claimed that a task team from KwaZulu-Natal was deployed to Gauteng under questionable circumstances, allegedly at the behest of politically aligned factions within the South African Police Service (SAPS).
Condemns president’s silence
Speaking to Sunday World outside the Gauteng court, Abel Tau, an MK Party representative, criticised Ramaphosa’s delayed return from an international trip to Brazil and his silence upon arrival in South Africa.
“This is an emergency. This is a matter of national security. We would have expected the president to land and immediately call a press briefing to address the nation. Instead, he acted as though nothing had happened. He might as well have stayed in Copacabana sipping cocktails.”
The party alleges that key individuals named in the unfolding saga are closely linked to the president, including Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, who has previously faced allegations of interfering in the controversial Phala Phala matter.
President protecting his own issues
“The president himself is compromised,” the official continued. “It’s a classic case of ‘you scratch my back, I scratch yours.’ He can’t act decisively because he’s protecting his own.”
The MK Party has called the current situation a tipping point. It added that South Africans are growing increasingly disillusioned with what they view as institutionalised impunity.
In a direct challenge to Gauteng’s provincial police commissioner, the party revealed plans to march to his office this coming on Monday, demanding clarity on the provincial leadership’s response to the allegations.
“The commissioner must decide whether he is either a police officer or a criminal. The time for reckoning is here. People must pick a side: they are either with the people or against them.”
“The president might hope that South Africans forget, but we will not. The MK Party is focused, and we are going to fight. Justice will not be delayed. t this time.”
Ramaphosa is scheduled to address the nation on Sunday at 7am.
