Durban metro police chief implicated in kidnapping and murder of suspect

Mchunu allegedly ordered officers to find 'girlfriend's' stolen phone

- By Sihle Mavuso

A whistleblower has implicated Durban metro police chief Sibonelo Mchunu in the death of a suspected robber in Tongaat in December last year.

The man made the claim in a statement submitted to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) for investigation.

The whistleblower is a metro police officer who alleges that Bhekumuzi Mbhele died after being tortured for information, as he and his other metro police colleagues were investigating the disappearance of the cellphone of Mchunu's alleged girlfriend six days earlier.

He writes that on December 24 last year, Mchunu's car was reportedly broken into near the Tongaat plaza in Durban, and his gun and the cellphone were stolen. The woman is reportedly a metro police officer, but it remains unclear where the two were when the car was broken into or why they were there that night.

The whistleblower alleges Mchunu then summoned a group of junior officers to raid the nearby informal settlement where it was believed the thief was hiding.