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Ramaphosa's actions follow allegations made by a top police
official in the KwaZulu-Natal province, Gen. Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi,
that Senzo Mchunu and deputy police commissioner Shadrack Sibiya
had interfered with sensitive investigations.
Ramaphosa said the probe will be headed by a judge, and
announced Firoz Cachalia as the acting minister of police.
“The commission will investigate the role of current or former
senior officials in certain institutions who may have aided or
abetted the alleged criminal activity, failed to act on credible
intelligence or internal warnings, or benefited financially or
politically from a syndicate’s operations,” Ramaphosa said
during a televised address Sunday.
During a press briefing last Sunday, Mkhwanazi also alleged that
Mchunu and Sibiya disbanded a crucial crime unit tasked with
investigating repeated politically motivated killings in the
province after it was revealed that crime syndicates were behind
the killings.
He alleged that an investigation by the unit showed that some
“politicians, law enforcement, SAPS (South African Police
Service), metro police and correctional services, prosecutors,
judiciary” were being “controlled by drug cartels and as well as
businesspeople.”
The investigation would include some of the country's crime and
justice agencies, including the National Prosecuting Authority
and the State Security Agency, Ramaphosa said.
Most opposition parties on Sunday criticized Ramaphosa for not
firing Mchunu instead of placing him on a leave of absence.
“This was an opportunity to take South Africans into confidence
and to deal with these issues decisively, instead he calls for a
commission of inquiry and expects South Africans to be patient
when people are dying on a daily basis,” said Nhlamulo Ndhlela,
spokesperson of official opposition MK Party.
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