Police Minister Senzo Mchunu has been accused of having ties to criminal gangs and of meddling in police investigations into politically motivated murders.
These explosive allegations were made by KwaZulu-Natal police boss Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi at a press briefing on Sunday.
He said Mr Mchunu was receiving financial support from an allegedly corrupt businessman to fund his “political endeavours”.
Mr Mchunu has since denied what he says are “wild allegations” while President Cyril Ramaphosa said they were of “grave national security concern” and “receiving the highest priority attention”.
Gen Mkhwanazi detailed a sequence of events he claims led to the “orchestrated” disbandment of a task force set up in 2018 to investigate the killing of politicians, mainly in KwaZulu-Natal.
Gen Mkhwanazi said the team’s investigations had uncovered links to high-profile individuals — including politicians, police officials, and businesspeople tied to a drug cartel syndicate – and this is why the team was disbanded.
When he dissolved the unit earlier this year, Mchunu said it was not adding value in the province, despite many cases remaining unsolved.
According to Gen Mkhwanazi, a total of 121 case files were allegedly removed from the unit on the minister’s instruction and without the authorisation of his boss, the national police commissioner General Fannie Masemola.
“These case dockets have, since March, been sitting at the head office ever since without any investigation work done on them. Five of these dockets already had instructions to [effect] arrests.”
The provincial police chief also alleged Mr Mchunu had ties to a controversial businessman who was “financially supporting” the minister’s political career.
Vusimuzi Matlala had a lucrative contract with the police before it was abruptly cancelled when he was arrested for attempted murder in May. Gen Mkhwanazi shared copies of text messages and a payment allegedly made by Mr Matlala to prove this.
Gen Masemola, on his part, said he would address these allegations later in the week when he announces the appointment of the temporary crime intelligence boss.
Criminal intelligence chief Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo was arrested over fraud and corruption allegations last month.
Gen Khumalo and the other six had been linked to an ongoing investigation into alleged abuse of intelligence funds and potentially unlawful appointments within the South African Police Service (SAPS).