Senzo Mchunu is either a sinister criminal mastermind or a naive political figurehead manipulated by crooked cops and generals, by an opportunistic chief of staff of questionable character and by an utterly dodgy ANC spy.
He is either a criminal genius or a pawn in the sinister infiltration of criminal justice by criminal cartels, which evidence before the Madlanga commission has revealed.
His long-awaited testimony before the commission of inquiry chaired by former Constitutional Court justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga last week centred on his contested decision to disband the political killings task team (PKTT), the product of a 2018 presidential directive to an interministerial task team to stem politically related killings in KwaZulu-Natal.
It is this directive that is likely to be a focus in the commission’s interim report, expected to be handed to President Cyril Ramaphosa on Wednesday next week.
Mchunu was placed on special leave by Ramaphosa after the allegations of political infiltration in the criminal justice system were revealed by KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi in a media briefing in July.
A finding that his decision to disband the PKTT in a directive to police commissioner Fannie Masemola on December 31 2024 was irrational could force Ramaphosa to axe Mchunu, effectively ending his political career.
Read: Zuma fails to overturn Ramaphosa’s decisions on Mchunu and Madlanga
He was emerging as a logical candidate to contest for the ANC presidency in 2027, against frontrunner Paul Mashatile. Testimony before the commission revealed that his ties to criminal kingpins were based on the need to raise funding for his presidential campaign.
Mchunu’s defence before the Madlanga commission was decidedly similar to the one he put up before parliament’s ad hoc committee, also investigating political interference in the criminal justice system.
Before the ad hoc committee, Mchunu became unstuck over the wording of his New Year’s Eve directive to “immediately” disband the PKTT. He testified that “immediately” did not mean “now”, rather it referred to a process.
MPs battled to accept this explanation, arguing that “immediately” did in fact mean “now”.
Similarly, before the Madlanga commission, Mchunu became unstuck over the omission of a word in a directive setting up another task team (against taxi violence) in the same month that he disbanded the PKTT.
He was pushed by the clinical questioning from evidence leader Mahlape Sello over why — if he had such a major problem with temporary task teams — he had set up one in the same month he had disbanded the PKTT.
His response got him stuck on “reinforce”. He argued that he did not intend for the task team to stand alone but simply to “reinforce” the existing units dealing with taxi violence. Yet in his directive to set up this task team, he did not use “reinforce”.
The exchange was revealing and eroded the defence of his move to disband the PKTT in the manner that he did, which was late on New Year’s Eve, when the national police commissioner was on leave and the country’s focus was on relaxation and festivities.
Earlier evidence, by crime intelligence head Lt-Gen Dumisani Khumalo, in particular, revealed that the PKTT had come to Gauteng where it assisted a task force in the province in sensitive investigations into attempted murder accused Vusimuzi Matlala and murder accused Katiso Molefe.
The PKTT was mistakenly deemed as central to these operations when it was simply providing additional support — but the cartel members used their influence in the police, in civil society and among parliamentarians to see the unit disbanded.
Sinister dimension
Mchunu’s disbandment letter therefore took on a sinister dimension, which Mkhwanazi raised in parliament in March, to no avail. He then held his explosive July 6 media briefing, which culminated in Mchunu being placed on special leave and the establishment of the Madlanga commission.
Madlanga’s interim report could see Mchunu axed before Christmas, as experience with such commissions shows.
In the aftermath of the submission of the Nugent commission interim report in 2018 into maladministration at the South African Revenue Service, Ramaphosa had no choice but to axe the then-suspended commissioner Tom Moyane after a biting interim report by retired judge Robert Nugent, who chaired the commission.
The Madlanga commission has much to unravel as it continues its work next year. If it seeks an extension for the submission of its final report in March, the fallout of this final report could influence the local government elections.
By all accounts, the commission has simply scratched the surface, and there is more to come.
More on the Madlanga commission:
Police assemble special team to investigate slain Madlanga commission witness
Ramaphosa extends Madlanga Commission’s report deadline
Ramaphosa will comment on Mchunu’s testimony after Madlanga commission
Matlala ‘felt used’ after arrest, having funded Senzo Mchunu’s ANC presidential bid, witness says
