Mantashe appointed acting Police Minister

South Africa’s president appointed Mineral and Petroleum Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe as acting police minister with immediate effect.

Mantashe will temporarily assume the role until Firoz Cachalia, a university professor and former provincial minister of community safety in Gauteng, takes over at the start of August, President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a statement Tuesday.

Cachalia is set to retire from his post at the University of the Witwatersrand at the end of the month. Mantashe will retain his current portfolio, the president said.

Cachalia was named acting police minister on Sunday to replace Senzo Mchunu, who was placed on special leave pending a judicial inquiry that could take months to complete.

Mchunu, a close ally of Ramaphosa, was suspended after Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi, the head of the police in the KwaZulu-Natal province, accused him and senior national officials of interfering in investigations into political assassinations. Mchunu has denied the allegations.