South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on Sunday suspended Police Minister Senzo Mchunu with immediate effect following serious corruption allegations.
The decision comes just a week after KwaZulu-Natal’s provincial police chief accused Mchunu of accepting payments from a corruption suspect. The minister has denied the claims, calling them baseless and made without due process or evidence.
In a nationally televised address, Ramaphosa announced the formation of a Judicial Commission of Inquiry. The body will probe the involvement of current or former senior officials who may have enabled or concealed criminal activity.
The commission is expected to submit initial findings within three months, and a final report within six. Ramaphosa stressed the need to protect the integrity of law enforcement institutions amid the nation’s ongoing fight against crime.
Mchunu, who assumed the police portfolio after last year’s elections, had been floated by local media as a potential successor to Ramaphosa from the centrist ANC wing.
The allegations surfaced on July 6, when Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi publicly accused Mchunu of undermining anti-corruption investigations. He also claimed the minister had helped dismantle a unit probing political killings to protect powerful allies.
Mkhwanazi, flanked by masked and heavily armed officers during his media briefing, said a criminal case had been opened against the minister. He further accused other senior officials of obstructing organised crime investigations.
Ironically, Mkhwanazi is himself under investigation over the awarding of a contract for bulletproof vests, according to the Sunday Times.
Law professor and ANC member Firoz Cachalia has been appointed interim police minister.
South Africa currently ranks 82nd globally in Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, reflecting deep public concern over endemic graft in state institutions.
