'South Africans tired of commissions of inquiry': parties on Ramaphosa's response to Mkhwanazi allegations
Addressing the nation on Sunday evening, Ramaphosa announced he was placing minister of police Senzo Mchunu on special leave, and said and that Prof Firoz Cachalia would act as police minister.
Ramaphosa also announced he has established a judicial commission of inquiry chaired by acting deputy chief justice Mbuyiseli Madlanga to investigate allegations relating to the infiltration of law enforcement, intelligence and associated institutions within the criminal justice system by criminal syndicates.
This comes after explosive allegations levelled against Mchunu by Mkhwanazi last Sunday.
Mkhwanazi accused Mchunu of interfering with police investigations and of overstepping his role when he ordered the disbandment of the political killings task team.
ActionSA said it sees no logic in yet another commission of inquiry carrying out work that law enforcement and agencies like Ipid should be doing, especially while the R1bn Zondo commission report into state capture gathers dust as those who committed treason continue to evade justice.
DA leader John Steenhuisen welcomed the new appointment made by Ramaphosa, but also expressed concern over the decision to establish a commission of inquiry.
In an interview with Newzroom Afrika, Steenhuisen said m any South Africans are sceptical about commissions of inquiry after the Zondo inquiry produced no convictions, even after people were named.
He added that the public's trust might deteriorate if there is another inquiry that yields no consequences.
GOOD party secretary-general Brett Herron said the appointment of a commission, while well-intentioned, is too slow, too cumbersome and too costly.
'We have walked this road before, most notably with the Zondo commission, and we have seen that a commission of inquiry cannot replace a criminal investigation. The Zondo commission produced volumes of prima facie evidence, which the investigating authorities were then required to investigate before any decision to prosecute could be made,' he said.
Herron said allegations made by Mkhwanazi demand an urgent and credible criminal investigation, not another year-long process the outcomes of which might never be acted on.
RISE Mzansi welcomed the establishment of a commission of inquiry.
The party feels that a judicial commission of inquiry is important because the SAPS and the minister cannot investigate themselves.
'The establishment of this inquiry insulates the process from political contamination,' said Makashule Gana, RISE Mzansi National Assembly caucus whip and member of the portfolio committee on police.
Meanwhile Mchunu has welcomed Ramaphosa's decision to place him on special leave, saying he fully supports the process.
'I welcome and respect the president's decision and pledge my commitment to the process. Honour and integrity are the virtues I personally subscribe to and which we all need to make efforts to uphold. I stand ready to respond to the accusations against me and account to the citizens of the republic, fully and honestly so,' Mchunu said in a statement.
TimesLIVE
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Maverick
an hour ago
- Daily Maverick
MPs recommend that ad hoc committee probes Mkhwanazi's allegations within 90 days
A joint committee meeting in Parliament has also recommended that the committee should identify any legislative or policy failures that may have contributed to the policing crisis. Parliament's police committee chair, Ian Cameron, says the formation of an ad hoc committee to probe KwaZulu-Natal Police Commissioner Lieutenant General Nhlanhla Mkhwanazi's allegations of police corruption is a 'positive process'. Cameron was speaking at the Cape Town Press Club on Tuesday, 22 July, about the policing scandal that has exposed rival factions in South Africa's law enforcement arena. Watch: Inside Mkhwanazi's claims: South Africa held hostage by criminal cartel A joint meeting of Parliament's police committee and its justice and constitutional development committee on Tuesday agreed to adopt their report recommending to the National Assembly that an ad hoc committee be formed to investigate Mkhwanazi's allegations. The decision followed a directive from National Assembly Speaker Thoko Didiza earlier this month asking the committees to come up with an appropriate approach to oversight concerning the allegations. The committees had considered options including conducting a full investigative inquiry under the Powers, Privileges and Immunities Act and exercising their conferring powers in terms of National Assembly Rule 169 — which dictates how committees can or must consult or meet with each other. Ultimately, it decided on the ad hoc committee because it is 'task-specific and time-bound'. 'The Committees are acutely aware of the need for the National Assembly to ensure an expeditious process. The Committees, therefore, recommend the establishment of an ad hoc Committee in accordance with National Assembly Rule 253,' stated the report. 'This is because the scope of an ad hoc committee is task-specific and time-bound, contrary to the general oversight function of portfolio committees, which, in contrast, is ongoing and often requires juggling competing priorities.' The recommendation of an ad hoc committee comes after Mkhwanazi held a press conference on 6 July and claimed that a drug cartel in Gauteng was controlling a high-level criminal syndicate that extended into the South African Police Service, the Police Ministry, Parliament, official prison structures, the judiciary and other law-enforcing authorities. He also alleged that Police Minister Senzo Mchunu, along with several other figures, including the deputy national commissioner for crime detection, Lieutenant General Shadrack Sibiya (who has since been told to take special leave), had undermined investigations into political killings and organised crime. President Cyril Ramaphosa has since announced that a judicial commission of inquiry will probe Mkhwanazi's allegations, and placed Mchunu on leave with immediate effect. Mineral Resources Minister Gwede Mantashe is filling Mchunu's position until August, when Firoz Cachalia, the National Anti-Corruption Advisory Council's chairperson and former Gauteng community safety MEC, will take over. Cameron said Ramaphosa's response to Mkhwanazi's allegations felt 'like burying one's head in the sand'. 'None of these inquiries or judicial commissions have really shown any form of result — apart from destroying tax coffers. [They haven't] shown any form of real justice,' said Cameron. Good result However, Cameron said he was 'confident' that the ad hoc committee in Parliament could 'have a good result'. 'It depends on how the Speaker also structures it — we don't have a direct say over that. Then that ad hoc committee would sit and determine their terms of reference, and obviously that is the critical part,' he said. 'We don't want to unnecessarily have duplication over anything that the commission is doing, but I think Parliament is already perfectly positioned to do the relevant interrogation of many of the allegations that have been made, and hopefully then we would be able to see quicker results and recommendations.' Cameron said the report was expected to be tabled in the National Assembly on Wednesday, 23 July. The committees have recommended that the ad hoc committee process be concluded within 90 days from it being formed. 'We have recommended three months for the ad hoc committee process, and hopefully we'd be able to get through it in that time. I don't think it needs to take much longer for the scope of what we would look at,' said Cameron. While the terms of reference are expected to be decided only once the ad hoc committee has been formed, the committees, in their report to the National Assembly, have recommended that, in addition to Mkhwanazi's allegations, 'consideration is given to identifying any legislative and/or policy failures or gaps that may have contributed to this matter'. DM
IOL News
an hour ago
- IOL News
Urgent motion revived by National Assembly to address statutory rape of young girls
The portfolio committees of Social Development, Basic Education, Health, Justice, and Police were mandated to receive submissions on the statutory rape of young girls, review legislation, and if necessary, recommend amendments to enforce mandatory reporting of statutory rape by teachers and nurses. Image: Photographer: Armand Hough / Independent Newspapers The National Assembly of South Africa unanimously agreed to revive a motion to investigate statutory rape of young girls and review existing laws for potential amendments. Initially introduced by the EFF in August last year, the motion was read by ANC chief whip Mdumiseni Ntuli to continue the work of committees that were unable to conduct public hearings. Ntuli said the portfolio committees of Social Development, Basic Education, Health, Justice, and Police were mandated to receive submissions on the statutory rape of young girls, review legislation, and if necessary, recommend amendments to enforce mandatory reporting of statutory rape by teachers and nurses. The committees were mandated to report to the House by March 31, 2025, but the actual hearings could not be conducted before the deadline. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ Ad loading Ntuli said there was a need for the work of the committees to be pursued as initially intended. He said the Portfolio Committee on Women, Youth and Persons with Disabilities should lead the statutory rape related work and reporting to the National Assembly by November 30. DA chief whip George Michalakis said it was high time Parliament dealt with this issue of statutory rape, which cuts across various departments, decisively. 'Statutory rape of young girls in this country has become a crisis that needs to be dealt decisively by this Parliament,' Michalakis said. MK Party MP Hazel Mbele said the motion should not just be up for debate but it should be declared a national emergency. 'Right now in our townships, rural villages and even our schools, our children are raped, groomed and destroyed and the system is looking away,' Mbele said. She also said while the Sexual Offences Amendment Act criminalised sex with minors, the law was good as its enforcement. 'How many teachers have we seen walk free after impregnating learners? How many sugar daddies are still driving fancy cars while 15-year-old girls carry their babies and their trauma?' Mbele asked. EFF MP Hlengiwe Mkhaliphi said the motion, that was tabled by former MP Busisiwe Mkhwebane without notice and was adopted, had brought to the attention of the House the alarming crisis of statutory rapes, a crisis highlighting distressing reality that young girls were coerced into premature motherhood and adulthood. 'These victims are often unaware that they are violated and are in urgent need of protection and justice,' Mkhaliphi said. ANC MP Oscar Mathafa said research showed that South Africa has extremely high rate of teenage pregnancies as one in four girls fall pregnant before they turn 20, and that out of 122,302 that gave birth in 2023/24, 2,616 were aged between 10 and 14. He said the statistics were a disjuncture to the Sexual Offences Amendment Act that prescribes that girls under the age of 12 can't give consent to sex. Mathafa said there was need for a collective effort to address teenage pregnancies with families being involved, and parents and guardians should report to authorities. 'The times of mediatory discussion among perpetrators and family members of victims cannot continue,' he said. Cape Argus
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Joburg urged to scrap fixed electricity surcharge after Ekurhuleni decision
Masabata Mkwananzi | Published 2 hours ago ActionSA has thrown down the gauntlet to the City of Joburg and all Gauteng municipalities, after the Executive Mayor of Ekurhuleni, Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, suspended the controversial fixed electricity surcharge. Calling the Ekurhuleni decision a wake-up call to municipalities, the party's Gauteng Provincial Chairperson, Funzi Ngobeni, said: 'It is no longer acceptable to balance municipal budgets by squeezing the most vulnerable residents while protecting bloated expenditure and inefficiencies in city administrations.'' This comes in the wake of public outrage and violent protests in Tembisa, where police resorted to firing rubber bullets to disperse crowds. The unrest was sparked by the City of Ekurhuleni's implementation of new electricity tariffs, which came into effect on July 1 for the 2025/26 financial year. ActionSA said the latest development reaffirms its long-standing position that the electricity surcharges are unjust, anti-poor, and were imposed without proper public consultation. The party said that the halted surcharge in Ekurhuleni is similar to the R230 monthly fixed fee levied on prepaid electricity users in Johannesburg. "These fees disproportionately affect poor and working-class households who are already battling rising food prices, unemployment, and service failures." He further stated that ActionSA plans to write to the Speaker of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature to request public hearings on the implementation of fixed electricity charges across municipalities. He stressed that Gauteng residents deserve to be heard, not punished, adding that the violent protests in Tembisa were both unfortunate and could have been avoided with proper public engagement. "Leadership should never wait for protest before acting; it should act on principle and in defence of the people." Ngubeni stressed that the ANC-EFF coalition in Johannesburg must urgently scrap the fixed electricity surcharge, which has fuelled growing frustration among residents. In contrast, he pointed out that in Tshwane, under a coalition led by ActionSA, no such surcharge has been introduced, demonstrating that there are better, more people-centred alternatives. Earlier this week, Minister of Electricity Kgosientsho Ramokgopa admitted that electricity prices have become unbearably high, placing a heavy burden on households who are now faced with the difficult choice between putting food on the table or keeping the lights on. The Democratic Alliance's Ekurhuleni caucus leader, Brandon Pretorius, said the DA firmly opposed the implementation of the surcharge from the outset, warning that it would place already struggling residents in a dire position, forcing them to choose between heating their homes or putting food on the table. The DA also stated that they have written to the National Energy Regulator of South Africa, urging the regulator to investigate what they described as flawed calculations in justifying the controversial surcharge figures. The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) in Gauteng has expressed their solidarity with the people of Tembisa who embarked on an electricity surcharge protest on Monday morning. The EFF has described this service charge as unreasonable because of widespread poverty and concerning unemployment figures in the region. The Star [email protected]
