A dark cloud continues to hang over Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, as he now faces criminal charges against him over explosive allegations of misconduct and interference in police operations by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
The DA announced it will lay charges on Thursday at the Cape Town Central Police Station.
The party’s Deputy Chief Whip, Baxolile Nodada; justice spokesperson Glynnis Breytenbach; intelligence spokesperson Dianne Kohler Barnard, and deputy police spokesperson Lisa Schickerling are expected to lead the charge and address the media afterward.
The DA has accused Mchunu of misleading Parliament earlier this year when he told the Portfolio Committee on Police that he did not know North West businessman Brown Mogotsi.
Mogotsi has since been implicated in alleged political interference in police operations by Mkhwanazi.
Mchunu has now admitted, four months after his denial, that he does, in fact, know Mogotsi, but only “as a comrade.”
This comes after he told Parliament on March 5 that he doesn’t know Mogotsi.
“I don’t know this person,” he said in reference to Mogotsi.
He claimed then that he had been shown a photo of the man after reports emerged that someone was falsely claiming to be associated with him, but he denied recognising the individual.
However, in a statement issued on Wednesday, Mchunu said he had met Mogotsi but downplayed the relationship.
“Whilst the minister knows and has met Mogotsi, he is just a comrade and not an associate of the minister. The minister has never requested or received anything from him,” the statement read.
The admission follows damning allegations by Mkhwanazi, who claimed Mchunu and other senior police leaders are linked to a criminal syndicate with ties to drug cartels and politically connected figures.
Mkhwanazi accused Mchunu of lying about his relationship with Mogotsi and colluding to protect influential individuals from prosecution.
Speaking to the police portfolio committee in March, Mchunu said: “I think I picked up something that Provincial Commissioner Mkhwanazi is saying about some fellow. Two weeks ago, I got somebody insisting that somebody was going around saying he works with me wherever I am, he is there. I said, ‘Show me the face.’ And it got to a point where he showed me his face and I told him, ‘I don’t know this person.’”
Mchunu, however, clarified that although he knows Mogotsi, they are not close and have no transactional relationship.
The controversy also involves murder-accused businessman Vusimuzi Matlala.
Mkhwanazi has accused Mchunu and Deputy National police commissioner Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya of colluding with Matlala to shield politically connected individuals from prosecution.
Mchunu’s office responded: “In response to the recent allegations made by Mkhwanazi, and while respecting the president’s call for calm, the minister of police, Senzo Mchunu, feels it is important to clarify the following: The minister has never met Matlala, has never spoken to him, nor has the minister ever requested or received anything from him.”
“The minister did, however, initiate a review of the SAPS tender awarded to him when suspicions of possible wrongdoing surfaced. It was the same tender that has since been terminated.”
Politics
