Police minister Senzo Mchunu, who has been placed on special leave by the president, said in court papers to the Constitutional Court on Wednesday that the allegation he had unilaterally disbanded the political killings task team was a “misrepresentation of reality”.
He also said allegations that he had lied to parliament were “misplaced”.
Mchunu was answering the MK Party's urgent application to the apex court to declare invalid and irrational President Cyril Ramaphosa’s decision to place him on a leave of absence and to appoint Prof Firoz Cachalia to act as police minister.
The MK Party has also challenged the president’s decision to appoint a judicial commission of inquiry — to be led by acting deputy chief justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga — to investigate the shocking allegations by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, which implicated Mchunu, several law enforcement bodies and members of the judiciary in colluding in high-level crime.
In his affidavit, Mchunu set out what he had done on the disbandment of the political killings task team.
He had written to national police commissioner Fannie Masemola to inform him that, “after some consideration”, the task team was no longer required nor adding any value to policing in South Africa; and directed that it be disbanded.
“He did not demur or write to me expressing a contrary view,” said Mchunu.
The claim that the task team was disbanded without Masemola’s knowledge was therefore “plainly incorrect”, he said. If Masemola had not approved of the disestablishment of the task team, “he certainly did not communicate this to me”. Mchunu attached to his court papers the correspondence from him to Masemola.
Mchunu also annexed to his court papers his responses to the complaints made by MPs to parliament’s ethics committee that he had misled parliament, saying that, while Mchunu told parliament he did not know Brown Mogotsi, and that he was no associate of his, he later contradicted himself in a statement.
Mchunu cited a recording of a portfolio committee on police briefing and then quoted his full answer to the committee.
He said his answer dealt with three different people: one person, who was “somebody going around saying that he works with me, wherever I am”; another person who was claiming to be his younger brother, yet his younger brother had passed away; then, there was a third person, who was Mogotsi. About Mogotsi, all he said was “I am no associate to the person that Gen Mkhwanazi is referring to”.
“Had there been a direct question from any member [of parliament] asking me whether I knew Mr Brown Mogotsi, I would have answered in the affirmative. This is owing to having interacted with Mr Mogotsi since 2017, in the presence of other comrades,” he said.
Mchunu said based on the definitions in the Oxford dictionary, an associate meant a “partner or companion in business or at work”, while a comrade meant “a colleague or fellow member of an organisation”.
“It is in this context that I denied Mr Brown Mogotsi being an associate of mine — close or otherwise — and rather stated that he is a comrade, as we are members of the same political party and have engaged on party and service delivery matters on a number of occasions”.
In his affidavit, Mchunu said Ramaphosa was within his legal rights to put him on leave. The power to suspend, or place on special leave, was implicit in the president’s power under the constitution to dismiss, he said.
“It would be absurd to suggest that the wide powers of the president to appoint cabinet ministers and to dismiss them at any time — and indeed to alter their terms of appointment, their functions (that is changing their portfolios) whenever he deems fit to do so — suddenly excludes the power to do something less drastic, which is to place a minister on precautionary suspension or special leave pending the outcome of an investigation,” he said.
He said he had denied any wrongdoing with regard to Mkhwanazi’s allegations. The purpose of precautionary suspension was to ensure that a person was not found guilty or punished “based on mere allegations”.
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.