Ramaphosa places Police Minister on special leave

South Africa’s president placed the nation’s police minister, who has been accused of sabotaging a probe into political killings in the crime-ridden country, on leave.

Ramaphosa placed Senzo Mchunu on special leave and appointed Firoz Cachalia, a university professor and former, as acting minister until the commission completes its probe.

The commission, to be chaired by acting Chief Justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga, “will investigate allegations relating to the infiltration of law-enforcement, intelligence and associated institutions within the criminal justice system by criminal syndicates,” Ramaphosa said in a televised address on Sunday.

The commission will also “make recommendations on the employment status of such officials, including whether they should be suspended pending the outcome of further investigations,” he said.

The panel will be required to provide interim findings within three and six months, before a final report is submitted to parliament.

Mchunu, who has rejected the allegations, is a key ally of Ramaphosa and was instrumental in a 2017 campaign that catapulted him to the head of the African National Congress, the nation’s biggest political party, and ultimately the leadership of Africa’s most industrialised economy.

His suspension follows allegations by Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the head of the police in KwaZulu-Natal province, that Mchunu and senior national officials in March seized case files with information on political killings and effectively froze the probes.

He questioned the motives behind what he said were Mchunu’s plans to disband a task team established to look into the deaths.

The Democratic Alliance, the second-biggest party in the country’s so-called government of national unity, laid criminal charges against Mchunu on July 10, highlighting a broader dispute the DA has had with its larger partner in the alliance — Ramaphosa’s African National Congress.

Its leader John Steenhuisen said that while the party “cautiously welcomes” the commission, “there need to be consequences that follow.”

The two parties clashed last month after the president fired deputy trade minister and DA member Andrew Whitfield for unauthorised travel, a dispute that threatened to unravel the year-old coalition.

The DA demanded Ramaphosa act against other ANC cabinet colleagues who’ve been accused of wrongdoing, including Higher Education Minister Nobuhle Nkabane, and debated a potential vote-of-no-confidence against him.

While the DA decided against that vote, it laid a criminal complaint against Nkabane for lying to parliament and alleged fraud. The ANC has defended the minister, saying she hasn’t broken any laws.