Mchunu: Cabinet reshuffle mooted

Parties have called for the president to take action regarding allegations against the police minister

- Mandisa Nyathi

Political parties are intensifying pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa to take action against Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, with the Democratic Alliance (DA), Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), and uMkhonto weSizwe party (MK) filing separate court applications over his role in disbanding a task team investigating assassinations.

This follows allegations by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lieutenant-General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi at a media briefing in Durban on Sunday that Mchunu ordered the shutdown of the specialised unit earlier this year.

The task team was established in 2018 to investigate political and entertainment-related killings in the province. Mkhwanazi said the unit was dismantled and 121 case dockets removed under Mchunu’s instructions.

He alleged that this was aimed at protecting a network of politicians and their associates linked to a broader criminal syndicate involving the deputy national police commissioner, Shadrack Sibiya.

Both Mchunu and Sibiya have denied these allegations.

The MK party, which filed its papers at the Brooklyn police station in Pretoria on Wednesday, said it would not remain silent in the face of what it said was a grave injustice.

“Minister Mchunu faces charges of obstructing and defeating the ends of justice, abuse of power and criminal conspiracy designed to derail legitimate investigations,” it said.

The EFF, which lodged a complaint with the speaker of the National Assembly, Thoko Didiza, submitted an official affidavit to the legislature's ethics committee. The complaint, brought by EFF chief whip Nontando Nolutshungu, accuses Mchunu of violating the Executive Members’ Ethics Act and the 2014 Parliamentary Code of Conduct. It calls for an investigation and demands that Mchunu be held accountable at the highest executive level.