Opposition urges Ramaphosa to stop commissions and strengthen crime-fighting agencies

Opposition parties have called on President Cyril Ramaphosa to stop appointing Commissions of Inquiry and instead use existing crime-fighting institutions such as the Special Investigating Unit (SIU).

African Transformation Movement parliamentary leader Vuyo Zungula said by appointing a commission, the president wanted to deflect public outrage, adding that he should have fired Police Minister Senzo Mchunu and asked the SIU to investigate the allegations against him.

Zungula suggested that Ramaphosa could have asked National Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Fannie Masemola to address the allegations against Deputy Commissioner - Crime Intelligence Detection, Lieutenant-General Shadrack Sibiya, since he directly reports to him.

“He could have fired Mchunu, instituted an SIU investigation, and encouraged Masemola to act against Sibiya,” said Zungula.

Build One South Africa leader, Mmusi Maimane, on social media platform X, said he also believed Mchunu and other ministers who have lied in Parliament could have been fired. 

“This was not enough. We have had enough commissions of inquiry. We are still seeing famous names from the Zondo Commission galavanting in places of influence and prominence. Some are still doing business with the state.

“We needed to give the police more ammunition to deal with the issues of the syndicates destroying South Africa with drugs and guns. I believe that Senzo Mchunu should have been fired, and the other ministers who have lied to Parliament,” said Maimane.

Maimane stated that this represented a missed opportunity in that regard.

He also called for the revival of the disbanded elite investigation unit known as the Scorpions. The unit, which was under the National Prosecuting Authority, ruffled feathers when it investigated top politicians in the country and was eventually disbanded.

Civil society group, AfriForum, also slammed the president for opting for a commission instead of using the existing state institutions to investigate the allegations.

The group described Ramaphosa’s announcement as a serious accusation against the capacity of existing law enforcement agencies.

“This indicates that these agencies either do not have the capacity to conduct the investigation or do not have the capacity to approach it without prejudice, and therefore another instrument is now being sought to undertake the investigation,” said AfriForum.

Addressing the nation on Sunday evening, the president announced placing Mchunu on a leave of absence and appointed a commission that will be chaired by Acting Deputy Chief Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga.

The commission will investigate the allegations against Mchunu as well as other security organs  that were named by KwaZulu-Natal provincial Police Commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.

Last week, Mkhwanazi accused Mchunu and other law enforcement agencies of meddling in police investigations to shield alleged crime syndicate suspects.

He revealed that Mchunu, using Brown Mogotsi as his proxy, tried to shield attempted murder suspect Vusimuzi Cat Matlala from prosecution.

Mkhwanazi alleged that Mogotsi sent a message to Matlala promising to arrange a meeting between Mchunu and Sibiya so that they could find a solution.

Both Mchunu and Sibiya have dismissed the allegations as baseless.

willem.phungula@inl.co.za