Opposition parties criticise Ramaphosa’s response to police minister’s corruption claims

Opposition parties have welcomed the placing of Police Minister Senzo Mchunu on special leave and the establishment of the commission of inquiry into allegations of political interference and links with criminal syndicates, while raising concerns.

On Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that a Judicial Commission of Inquiry will be established and will be chaired by Acting Deputy Chief Justice, Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga.

Ramaphosa also said that Professor Firoz Cachalia, an academic from Wits University, will be the acting minister from August 01.

The changes came after KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi accused Mchunu and Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection Lt General Shadrack Sibiya of corruption, political interference, and drug cartel involvement during a media briefing last Sunday.

Central to the controversy is the disbandment of the political killings task team, the freezing of posts for crime intelligence, which has left KZN with vacant positions, among others.

He claimed that an investigation has unmasked the syndicate, which involves politicians, law enforcement (SAPS, Metro Police, and Correctional Services), prosecutors, judiciary, and is controlled by a drug cartel as well as business people.

Mchunu and Sibiya have denied the allegations.

DA leader John Steenhuisen said that the President has taken a step, but not the leap that this moment demands.

“While we welcome the replacement of Minister Mchunu, we also reject the attempt to create the illusion of reform while ANC ministers accused of corruption remain firmly in cabinet at the behest of presidential prerogative. 

“If he (Ramaphosa) truly wants to root out criminal syndicates from the state, he must start with his Cabinet. South Africans deserve action, not more commissions,” Steenhuisen said.

He expressed concern that Ramaphosa has once again outsourced executive responsibility to a commission, and South Africans have grown cynical of talk shops, task teams, and commissions which they see as buying time and avoiding accountability.

Nhlamulo Ndhlela, spokesperson for the uMkhonto weSizwe Party, described the President’s address as “the most catastrophic speech ever delivered by a president in this new dispensation.”

“This president had an opportunity to take South Africa into confidence and to deal with these issues decisively. Instead, he calls for a commission of inquiry, and he expects South Africa to be patient when people are dying on a daily basis,” Ndlela said.

He welcomed the formation of the judicial commissioner of inquiry which has been given a full six months to get to the bottom of the allegations.

Thembi Msane from the EFF said putting the minister on special leave is not doing justice to anyone else, because he gets paid for doing nothing.

“The EFF is appalled by the decision of President Cyril Ramaphosa to place Minister Senzo Mchunu on “special leave” instead of removing him entirely from his position. This so-called “special leave” is a cowardly deflection, designed to shield a corrupt Minister whose involvement in organised crime has been laid bare by KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner, Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. 

“We additionally reject the legally and constitutionally baseless decision by the President to appoint an acting Minister of Police who is not a current member of Cabinet. This is a direct violation of Section 98 of the Constitution, which states: ‘The President may assign to a Minister any power or function of another Minister who is absent or otherwise unable to fulfil the functions of office,’” Msane said.

She added that the Police Ministry has two deputies, yet the President went outside and chose someone else, and this tells “us” that he has no confidence in the deputy ministers. 

gcwalisile.khanyile@inl.co.za