Suspended police minister Senzo Mchunu says he is unfazed by revelations at the Madlanga commission of inquiry implicating him in alleged political interference in the criminal justice system.
Speaking at a memorial lecture commemorating struggle stalwarts Simon Msweli and Mike Mthethwa in the Musa Dladla region of KwaZulu-Natal on Saturday, Mchunu said he was ready to testify before the commission.
“I am glad that I will get an opportunity to present my side of the story in the commission,” said Mchunu, adding he was not shaken by the evidence implicating him.
Mchunu was suspended by President Cyril Ramaphosa amid explosive allegations made against him by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi. Mkhwanazi accused Mchunu of interfering with SAPS operations, which led to the disbandment of the political killings task team investigating political killings in KwaZulu-Natal. He is also accused of being an associate of criminal cartels seeking to capture the SAPS.
All witnesses called to testify at the commission, including Mkhwanazi, national police commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola, and SAPS crime intelligence head Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo, have alleged that Mchunu interfered in police operations.
On Saturday, Mchunu appeared publicly to deliver the memorial lecture for Msweli and Mthethwa, who were killed by the apartheid police at kwaSokhulu outside Richards Bay in 1992 after allegedly firing shots at a police helicopter.
Mchunu also visited the family of the late South African ambassador to France, Nathi Mthethwa, who died in Paris last week. He expressed shock over Mthethwa’s passing.
“It is something that we never expected,” Mchunu said. He added that they had worked closely with Mthethwa when they were leading the Musa Dladla region of the ANC, then known as the Northern Natal region, in the early 1990s.
