It was not surprising that the evidence of former police minister Senzo Mchunu’s chief of staff, Cedrick Nkabinde, was cut short in parliament on Thursday, after he admitted to “thumb sucking” details in his affidavit to the ad hoc committee on political interference in the criminal justice system.
Wherever Nkabinde treads, there is confusion, suspicion and lies. The ad hoc committee decided to halt Nkabinde’s hearing to allow him to inject more “clarity” (read: honesty) into his evidence — still, the little he did say was illuminating.
Nkabinde told the committee he had effectively been headhunted by Mchunu and appointed to the post without any other candidate being interviewed. This contrasted with Mchunu’s version. He told the committee earlier that the appointment had been made after a proper process with more than one applicant.
Nkabinde told the committee that he had set up a meeting between Mchunu and controversial ANC “fixer” Brown Mogotsi and that the meeting had taken place at the minister’s official residence in Pretoria. Mchunu intimated in his appearance before the committee that he had only ever spoken to Mogotsi on the phone.
Read: Ad hoc committee halts Nkabinde testimony over ‘thumb‑sucked’ affidavit
According to Nkabinde, Mchunu had given him Mogotsi’s number to invite him and other “comrades” from the North West to a meeting in the wake of the trapped illegal miners in Stilfontein. He told the committee that the meeting had taken place at the minister’s residence but that he did not sit in on it or participate.
KwaZulu-Natal police commissioner Lt-Gen Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi’s evidence on Nkabinde was that he was the conduit between Mchunu and those whom the police boss claimed had actually authored the letter disbanding the political killings task team on December 31 last year. Mchunu has categorically denied this, saying it was only he and his special adviser, advocate Vusi Pikoli, who had authored the letter, going as far as saying Nkabinde was not involved.
Mkhwanazi and Nkabinde are relatively aligned when it comes to their own relationship — Nkabinde described him as a close friend, and Mkhwanazi said he knew Nkabinde well, well enough for Nkabinde to tell him that he knew nothing about being in the role of chief of staff when Mchunu had appointed him.
Nkabinde denied knowing Mogotsi – who, according to evidence before the ad hoc committee and the Madlanga commission, was the link between Mchunu and attempted murder accused and alleged cartel boss Vusimuzi “Cat” Matlala. Mkhwanazi alleged that Nkabinde was part of the interface between the underworld and the minister, with Mogotsi sharing high-level police information with Matlala and others, with suggestions that it came from Mchunu ostensibly via Nkabinde.
Nkabinde revealed that he was the investigator at the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) who penned a report urging the Hawks to halt their investigation into the murder of a member of Mchunu’s security detail. This was after Mchunu was viewed as a suspect by the unit — he laid a complaint with Ipid complaining about the slow progress of the murder investigation and that he was a suspect.
What we know about Nkabinde is that he had also reportedly, in two other instances, switched sides to support police officials accused of wrongdoing while he was at Ipid, one of whom was former acting police commissioner Kgomotso Phalane, who is facing corruption charges before the courts.
He is clearly a dubious character who seemingly plays a central role in the capture of the criminal justice system.
After his testimony was cut short when MPs caught on to his “thumb-sucking” facts under oath, it is crucial that he return to the hot seat and be scrutinised with more vigour than the lazy approach by evidence leader Norman Arendse on Thursday.
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