If Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi was so sure and adamant that police minister Senzo Mchunu had committed those crimes, why couldn’t he just arrest the man?
That is one of the burning questions many South Africans have been asking themselves since Mkhwanazi dropped the bombshells at a press conference in Durban at the weekend.
The short answer is, it’s not that simple, he has to now leave it in other officers hands.
Mkhwanazi accused Mchunu of political influence in police operations, using his powers to shield businesspeople linked to the criminal underworld, while also shutting down a police investigating unit which was investigating the same people closely.
Mkhwanazi said cellphone downloads from the phone of Vusumuzi ‘Cat’ Matlala allegedly showed a direct link between Madlala, Mchunu, his alleged associate Brown Mogotsi and Lt Gen Shadrack.
Matlala was arrested in connection with the attempted murder of his ex-lover, Tebogo Thobejane, who survived an alleged hit on the N1 highway.
The University of Zululand’s professor of criminal justice, Professor Jean Steyn, said inorder for an arrest to be executed on the minister, a court issued arrest warrant would be required to legitimize the process.
He said although anyone could open a case - as Mkhwanazi did against Mchunu, there was a reasonable expectation that he could not effect the arrest himself.
“Lt Gen Mkhwanazi has a right to open case against anyone, including the minister. This is problematic in that there should be trust, integrity and there should be a meaningful relationship between the minister, the national commissioner and the provincial commissioner,” he said.
Steyn said he believed it was not probable that Mkhwanazi would arrest the minister himself as he has to be seen to be not interfering in the process.
He said affidavits, statements and other evidence would be required for the issuance of an arrest warrant in court.
Steyn said should the minister be arrested without the insistence of a court order issued arrest warrant, it would open up the process to more questions of motive, intent and substantiation.
"Every step, every person involved, every process, will be scrutinised in depth by all and sundry , and that is where it gets tricky and that is where criticism comes in place.”
Steyn said if the crimes alleged by Mkhwanazi were proven in court of law, they were serious. He hailed Mkhwanazi as brave - and said South Africans should be concerned by the developments. He has called for a judicial inquiry to be instituted and concluded, in no more than 30 days, to investigate the allegations and to get to the bottom of the matter.
He said all implicated parties should be suspended from their duties pending the probe. You can watch the 30-minute video interview with Professor Steyn below.
IOL