South African
President Cyril Ramaphosa placed police minister Senzo Mchunu on
immediate leave of absence on Sunday, following accusations by a
top police official that he had colluded with a criminal
syndicate and interfered in high-profile investigations.
Mchunu denied the allegations by Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, police
commissioner of KwaZulu-Natal province, at a media briefing last
Sunday. He said the accusations were baseless and in a statement
issued by his spokesperson last week said he was committed to
upholding the rule of law.
Ramaphosa, whose rise to the highest office was built on
promises to fight corruption, has been under pressure to act
swiftly as political parties and citizens said the allegations
called into question the integrity of the criminal justice
system.
Investors have for years expressed concern over rampant
crime that the World Bank estimates costs South Africa an
estimated 10% of gross domestic product each year.
“These allegations therefore call for an urgent and
comprehensive investigation,” Ramaphosa said in a public address
which was carried by the public broadcaster and private TV
stations, adding he would establish a judicial commission of
inquiry for this purpose.
Ramaphosa said he will appoint law professor Firoz
Cachalia as acting minister of police.
Mchunu is a senior figure in Ramaphosa’s African National
Congress (ANC) party, and political analysts have said he could
run for a leadership position at the ANC’s next elective
conference in 2027.
Citing digital evidence such as WhatsApp messages,
Mkhwanazi’s allegations included that Mchunu had disbanded a
police unit tasked with investigating politically motivated
killings to protect politicians, police officers and other
people linked to a criminal syndicate.
Mkhwanazi said more than 100 case files were taken away from
the political killings task team and have not been investigated
further since.
The Democratic Alliance party, the ANC’s main coalition
partner, called for a parliamentary inquiry into the allegations
against Mchunu. At least one opposition party has called for his<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South AfricanPresident Cyril Ramaphosa placed police minister Senzo Mchunu onimmediate leave of absence on Sunday, following accusations by atop police official that he had colluded with a criminalsyndicate and interfered in high-profile investigations.Mchunu denied the allegations by Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, policecommissioner of KwaZulu-Natal province, at a media briefing lastSunday. He said the accusations were baseless and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n