The DA has laid a criminal charge of fraud against police minister Senzo Mchunu at the Cape Town Central Police Station and submitted a formal complaint to parliament’s joint committee on ethics and members’ interests.
The party alleges Mchunu knowingly misled parliament during a committee meeting in March when he denied knowing businessperson Brown Mogotsi, only to later admit in a public statement that he does, in fact, know him.
“What we have here is the police minister deliberately lying to parliament on March 5, and that is fraud — a criminal act,” said DA deputy chief whip Baxolile Nodada.
The DA said Mchunu’s actions violated both the Powers, Privileges and Immunities of Parliament and Provincial Legislatures Act and the parliamentary code of conduct.
The ethics committee is now expected to assess whether there is prima facie evidence of misconduct, while the criminal complaint may be referred to the National Prosecuting Authority for further investigation.
The party also criticised President Cyril Ramaphosa’s continued silence, calling it “indefensible” in the face of mounting allegations and growing public concern.
National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza on Wednesday declined a request to hold a parliamentary debate on alleged criminal links to Mchunu, saying the allegations remain unsubstantiated.
Didiza has instead directed parliament’s portfolio committees on police, justice and constitutional development and the joint standing committee on intelligence to urgently consider the allegations against Mchunu made by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi.
Didiza said the two committees should consider the allegations “on an urgent basis, [and] in terms of their respective mandates, the wide-ranging allegations regarding security matters that have implications for the country’s national security”.
This follows Mchunu’s denials of the allegations including his links to entrepreneur and attempted murder accused Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala. Mchunu has said he was responsible for the cancellation of the R360m SA Police Service (SAPS) tender to Matlala.
SAPS national commissioner Gen Fannie Masemola confirmed that Mkhwanazi’s security had been strengthened because of escalating death threats following the damning allegations.
“In terms of physical protection, he has been getting threats to his life in that province. We have beefed up his security but he won’t be persecuted from my side; surely there will be no persecution of any member of the SA Police Service,” Masemola told journalists on Wednesday.
Mchunu was reacting on Wednesday to allegations of colluding with Matlala, who received the large tender from the SAPS and that was cancelled in May, despite Matlala’s role in corruption at Tembisa Hospital in Gauteng.
Days after the cancellation of the tender, Matlala was arrested for plotting to kill his former girlfriend, actress and socialite Tebogo Thobejane.
“The minister has never met Mr Matlala, has never spoken to him; nor has the minister ever requested or received anything from him. The minister did, however, initiate a review of the SAPS tender awarded to him when suspicions of possible wrongdoing surfaced. It was the same tender that has since been terminated,” Mchunu said in a statement, issued by his spokesperson, Kamogelo Mogotsi.
“Furthermore, while the minister knows and has met Brown Mogotsi, he is just a comrade and not an associate of the minister. The minister has never requested or received anything from him.”
Mkhwanazi alleged Mchunu had disbanded the KwaZulu-Natal-based political killings task team in December because its members had assisted a police team in Gauteng with the case about the murder of a Q-Tech employee, Armand Swart.
Swart was killed after being mistaken for an employee who blew the whistle on fraud and corruption in a Transnet tender.
The work of the police teams led to the arrest of Katiso Molefe and the weapon used was linked to a number of high-profile killings of artists dating back to 2021.
In January, February and April this year, the deputy national police commissioner, Lt-Gen Shadrack Sibiya, told the task team in writing to submit all their case dockets to his office.
More than 120 case dockets were sent to his office in March and have not been acted on since. Mkhwanazi provided WhatsApp messages from murder accused and tenderpreneur Matlala and Mogotsi, an alleged associate of Mchunu.
“I have arranged a meeting for Sibiya and the minister, they must have a solution,” a message from Mogotsi to Matlala allegedly said. Another message said: “The task team that came to your house and harassed you has been dissolved; they got the letter on Monday. As we speak, they are bringing all the dockets to Sibiya.”
Opposition political parties have called for a parliamentary investigation into Mkhwanazi’s allegations as President Cyril Ramaphosa considers his response. He was abroad when the revelations were made, but returned to SA on Tuesday.
The fallout from the revelations are set to reverberate across the political spectrum, with Mchunu among the senior ANC leaders set to contest for a top spot in the ANC at its next elective conference in 2027.
Update: July 9 2025
This story has been updated with new developments.
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