![](\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760723025_436_1202&operation=CROP&offset=0x0&resize=1202x676.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu told Parliament\u2019s ad hoc committee investigating allegations of police corruption that he had instructed his chief of staff, Cedrick Nkabinde, to record conversations with KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi after detecting threats over the disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT).<\/span><\/p>\n Mchunu is appearing before the committee amid serious allegations that he is part of a political syndicate interfering with the justice system. <\/span><\/p>\n Evidence leader <\/span>Adv Norman Arends<\/span> questioned Mchunu about his skepticism to meet General Mkhwanazi, who had repeatedly requested a meeting to discuss critical police matters \u2014 a meeting that never materialised.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI wanted to meet General Mkhwanazi privately, but it just did not happen,\u201d Mchunu told the committee. <\/span><\/p>\n He further explained that a WhatsApp voice recording allegedly between his chief of staff, Nkabinde, and Mkhwanazi, contained threats that Mkhwanazi would \u201cfight back.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Mchunu expressed wariness of meeting Mkhwanazi directly due to the nature of these threats, which Nkabinde first flagged.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHe kept on saying to me that it was a threat,\u201d Mchunu said. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt was also a promise that somebody will go back and say, \u2018What did I do wrong when I was MEC, Minister, or Premier?\u2019 I have no problem with that \u2014 I have no problem with people wanting to check what I did wrong from day one. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBut in this context, it becomes a weapon to say, \u2018Don\u2019t do this,\u2019 even if it\u2019s correct, lawful, and constitutional. \u2018Because I don\u2019t like it, if you do it, I\u2019ll go back and dig up what you did wrong.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think people should take it for granted that anything I did was unlawful \u2014 it just isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Pressed about the WhatsApp message reportedly capturing Mkhwanazi\u2019s vow to resist, Mchunu acknowledged its existence but didn\u2019t elaborate on the full content as the audio did not reference what he alleged.<\/span><\/p>\n When asked whether Nkabinde routinely recorded conversations, Mchunu clarified that the threat of retaliation explicitly prompted the recordings.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAt some point, as the tension heated up, I felt things were developing fast, and it looked like an inside threat. When the chief of staff mentioned this, I thought there might be a need to record,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI told him to consider recording the discussions because it sounded like a compromise \u2014 but if that compromise becomes a threat, it creates a difficult environment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Given the circumstances, Mchunu defended the directive to record as a necessary precaution.<\/span><\/p>\n The testimony highlights the escalating tensions between Mchunu and Mkhwanazi amid the fallout over the disbandment of the PKTT, a unit tasked with investigating <\/span>politically sensitive crimes<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n Mkhwanazi has testified that the minister ordered the disbandment without adequate briefing and misjudged the unit\u2019s significance.<\/span><\/p>\n Mchunu, currently on special leave pending investigations, maintains that his actions were justified and conducted within his mandate. <\/span><\/p>\n thabo.makwakwa@inl.co.za<\/span><\/p>\n Politics<\/strong><\/p>\n Suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu told Parliament\u2019s ad hoc committee investigating allegations of police corruption that he had instructed his chief of staff, Cedrick Nkabinde, to record conversations with KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi after detecting threats over the disbandment of the Political Killings Task Team (PKTT). Mchunu is appearing before the committee […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":255988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[7814,8110,3963,356,17275,5898],"class_list":["post-255987","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-politics","tag-commissioner","tag-feared","tag-kzn","tag-mchunu","tag-mkhwanazi","tag-threats"],"yoast_head":"\n<\/div>\nGet your news on the go. Download the latest App for Android and IOS <\/span>now.<\/em><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"