President Cyril Ramaphosa faces yet another acid test of his presidency, possibly his most daunting, when he addresses the nation tonight on the sensational and deeply troubling developments within our law-enforcement agencies over the past week.
South Africans will be watching closely as the president attempts to juggle the opposing interests at play. Will he put crime-weary South Africans first, or will political allies get preferential treatment?
The claims made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi — to the effect that police minister Senzo Mchunu has hitherto undisclosed links to dodgy characters in the criminal underworld — are political dynamite. Mchunu is one of Ramaphosa’s closest allies and a vital source of support in restive KwaZulu-Natal, where the ANC is on the back foot after the rise of former president Jacob Zuma’s MK Party in the elections last year.
At the same time, Ramaphosa also faces pressure to pronounce on the future of another KwaZulu-Natal political figure, higher education minister Nobuhle Nkabane, accused of lying to parliament over her handling of the Seta chairs matter. Axing both her and Mchunu might send a negative signal to the province’s ANC structures, traditionally an important constituency for ANC leadership. Yet if Ramaphosa fails to act, on Mchunu especially, he will further embellish his reputation as a weak president too afraid to act against errant ministers.
Complicating the situation for the president is that Mkhwanazi is a popular figure, given the tough line he has taken against organised crime, drug syndicates and cash-in-transit robberies. He is arguably more popular than most of the country's politicians, among a public tired of violent crime and supportive of anyone who takes a hard line against it.
There have already been murmurings of a repeat of the 2021 riots that occurred in the wake of Zuma’s arrest.
Mkhwanazi's allegations have also highlighted the extent to which the ANC and some of its leaders — ever desperate for funding — have become entwined with elements whose criminal activities and need for political cover have provided a source of money.
Mchunu at first denied knowing Brown Mogotsi, who has three previous criminal convictions and is said to have links with alleged crime syndicate kingpin Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala, who is facing charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit murder and money laundering. Now, he says he knows Mogotsi as a “comrade”, raising questions about their association and why he denied knowing him the first time around.
Ordinary South Africans who have to bear the burden of crime are tired of the infighting and intrigue that seem to occupy so much of our police force’s attention
Mkhwanazi claims Mchunu shut the SAPS’s political killings task team to shield characters like Matlala, given that many political murders are linked to the scramble for state tenders.
The arrests last month of SAPS crime intelligence head Dumisani Khumalo by the Investigating Directorate Against Corruption (Idac), which reports to the National Prosecuting Authority, follow disclosures in parliament about the unit’s alleged free-spending and extravagant ways. Also in Idac’s sights is Mkhwanazi himself, alleged to have received a bribe in France to help a connection secure a police tender. Without charges being brought against him, this remains in the realm of speculation and rumour.
Secrets within secrets in the higher echelons of the SAPS and government are a stock in trade for those in power. Beyond that tight circle, though, are ordinary South Africans who have to bear the burden of crime and who are tired of the infighting and intrigue that seem to occupy so much of our police force’s attention.
Enough is enough. Ramaphosa must take decisive steps tonight to bring the SAPS to order and restore eroded trust in the service. All South Africans with the country’s best interests at heart will be eager to hear him come down decisively on the side of the people and the country.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.