Doubt cast on ANC's KZN leaders

The provincial police commissioner's allegations against the police minister and the higher education minister's Seta appointments have undermined their reputations

- Lunga Mzangwe & Mandisa Nyathi

The ANC in KwaZulu-Natal says the corruption allegations by provincial police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi against Police Minister Senzo Mchunu have cast doubt on the calibre of leaders from the province.

Party sources say the province now has to work even harder to redeem itself after the losses suffered in the May 2024 general elections.

Former ANC president Jacob Zuma, former health minister Zweli Mkhize — who opposed president Cyril Ramaphosa at the 2022 ANC elective conference — and now Mchunu, who was touted as the province’s next presidential candidate, have faced corruption allegations.

“The recent conduct of certain ministers from KwaZulu-Natal has unfortunately cast a shadow over the calibre of leadership our province has produced,” a senior KwaZulu-Natal ANC leader told the Mail & Guardian.

In a media briefing two weeks ago, Mkhwanazi said a high-profile task team set up to investigate political killings in the province had been disbanded because it was closing in on politicians and others linked to a criminal syndicate in Gauteng.

Mkhwanazi said Mchunu had ordered the dissolution of the team — formed in 2018 to investigate politically motivated murders in KwaZulu-Natal but later used in other provinces — because it had uncovered links between drug cartels, politicians, police and prosecutors.

He also accused senior police leaders of corruption and obstruction.

Meanwhile, Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane, who also comes from the province, is under fire over her role in appointing members of Sector Education and Training Authorities (Seta) boards, which manage billions in public skills funding.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) wants Nkabane fired, accusing her of misleading parliament and violating the executive ethics code by fabricating the legitimacy of the selection process.