KZN police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has accused Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, who has been placed on special leave, of constantly lying about his relationship with notorious businessman Brown Mogotsi.
Mkhwanazi made this explosive testimony while giving evidence before the Parliamentary Ad Hoc Committee on Tuesday, which is investigating the allegations he made on July 6 raising major state security concerns.
He told the committee that the relationship between Mchunu and Mogotsi was unethical.
Mchunu has previously misled Parliament about knowing Mogotsi, later calling him a comrade. However, Mogotsi has been denied by the ANC as being a member.
“Minister Mchunu claiming that this man is a comrade and a political party concerned says he is not a comrade. That means the conclusion we must throw is that this is not a comrade. He is a criminal that the minister has invited to be part of the police. Minister lied when he said he is a comrade,” Mkhwanazi said.
Relationship runs deeper than just comrade
According to Mkhwanazi, the relationship between Mchunu and Mogotsi goes beyond mere acquittance. He said Mogotsi has been actively involved in Mchunu’s political and governance affairs.
Mkhwanazi said if Mogotsi had not introduced himself to Mkhwanazi in September 2024, he would not have known about him.
“I said, when you say comrade I assume it’s a colleague in the political party. And this is a person he communicates with December, January. There’s a January 8 gathering of that party in Cape Town. Mogotsi is facilitating the guest of the minister for Matlala to pay for them to come to attend this thing.
“They are here, he is here, everybody is here. They are having meetings in some hotels that we already know of where they are sitting and having lunch during the period of January this year,” he said.
Mkhwanazi further alleged that Mogotsi had access to highly sensitive police information. This includes details about Mchunu’s diary and official movements. Despite holding no government position.
“He knows the calendar, the diary of the minister that on this day he is on his way to Lusikisiki. It’s a person that is quite knowledgeable. And this person is not in government as a colleague to the minister. And this person is not in the political party. Of which his own political party disowned him recently that he is not a member,” Mkhwanazi said.
Mogotsi played key political role
“The records that we have in our possession is the role that this Mogotsi was playing in the political campaign of the very same minister in the past. The communications that time when they were busy fighting for positions back then. Up to the conference of this political party. But we have these records with us because it is an intelligence work we must do. The exchange of monies and the likes is available within intelligence.
“It’s one of the things I was questioning about that pushed these members to talk. The police have that information, it’s there. But we don’t want it to go out because it is a secret of the state that will cause fire,” he told the committee.
Mkhwanazi accused Mchunu of dishonesty and of enabling a criminal to move within government and police structures. He warned that some of this intelligence material is too sensitive to make public.
