Call for commission of inquiry into KZN top cop's allegations about Police Minister Mchunu
KZN Provincial Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi has made damning allegations against the Police Minister Senzo Mchunu.
Image: Tumi Pakkies / Independent Newspapers
A call has been made for a commission of inquiry to be established after KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi made damning claims regarding a senior national commissioner for crime detection and Police Minister Senzo Mchunu in a media briefing on Sunday.
In the briefing, Mkhwanazi alleged that there were sinister motives behind the disbandment of the SAPS Political Killings Task Team.
However Mchunu hit back stating that the "wild allegations and claims on a variety of issues" would be reviewed for further action.
The IFP said on Sunday night that President Cyril Ramaphosa should immediately appoint an Independent Commission of Inquiry, chaired by a retired judge, to investigate the allegations made by the KZN Provincial Police Commissioner.
The party's national spokesperson Mkhuleko Hlengwa said the "SAPS eco-system cannot self-investigate as it is also a subject of both the allegations and role-players".
Mkhwanazi claimed that the disbanding decision was taken by Mchunu without informing the national police commissioner, Fannie Masemola, or himself as the provincial police commissioner.
The task team, established in 2018, was a multidisciplinary unit focused on politically motivated killings and related crimes in KZN.
“On the 26th March 2025, a total of 121 case dockets under investigation were taken away from the task team as directed by the Deputy National Commissioner for Crime Detection, Lt General Shadrack Sibiya, acting on the instruction of the Minister of Police to disband the task team. This was done without the authority of the National or the Provincial Commissioner,” Mkhwanazi said.
He added that these case dockets have been sitting at the head office ever since without any investigation work done on them.
He stated that the link between high-ranking police officials and politicians, some of whom are serving in Parliament, was established after the Gauteng Organised Crime Investigation Unit sought assistance from KZN in 2024 regarding a syndicate operating in the country and controlled in Gauteng.
Mkhwanazi said he deployed ten members from the task team to support the Gauteng Organised Crime Investigation Unit.
He claimed this investigation has unmasked the syndicate which involves politicians, law enforcement (SAPS, Metro Police & Correctional Services), prosecutors, judiciary, and was controlled by a drug cartel as well as business people.
“The disbandment of the task team was influenced by the sterling work that they performed in Gauteng to uncover the criminal syndicate that involves some members of the criminal justice system operating in Gauteng province. Despite all these challenges, we acknowledge and appreciate the resilience of the members of the task team."
He stated that the task team remained operational, albeit attempts to disrupt its work.
In response to the allegations, the police ministry said: “The Minister of Police will never allow his integrity, or that of the Ministry or the SAPS at large, to be undermined by insinuations made without evidence or due processes, from anyone, including Lieutenant General Mkhwanazi.
"We will be reviewing the Provincial Commissioner’s statements and consider appropriate action. All these statements made by him in public require an urgent, thorough, and transparent investigation, on a proper platform,” Mchunu said.
He reiterated his commitment to upholding the rule of law, ensuring accountability within the SAPS, and serving the people of South Africa with integrity.
Sibiya also denied allegations made by Mkhwanazi.
“He (Mkhwanazi) must stop behaving like a criminal and behave like a disciplined member of the police. Tell him to stop threatening people and talking about violence there. He must stop behaving like a warlord. He’s a member of the police,” Sibiya told the SABC.
The IFP's Hlengwa said: "The allegations of criminality, corruption, collusion and interference that have been made against the Police Minister question national security and shake public trust at its very core.
"The IFP further calls for Minister Mchunu to be placed on special leave until such time that the Independent Commission of Inquiry has concluded its work, and presented its findings.During this period Minister Mchunu should subject himself to the due investigative processes of the Commission."